


Shadows of Ourselves

by lunasenzanotte



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Italy, M/M, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 04:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 28,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1252888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunasenzanotte/pseuds/lunasenzanotte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gigi and Andrea used to be inseparable for centuries - until Andrea decided to stop drinking human blood. Gigi wants their blood-tinted friendship back and decides to give Andrea an interesting gift...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue & One

**_Florence, April 1492_ **

_The air was unusually warm that night. The thick stone walls soaked the heat in and despite the late hour, Andrea still felt like he was suffocating in his room. He opened the window and looked into the darkness. The air was still and heavy, not a single leaf in the garden would move._

_He turned back and almost screamed when he saw his friend Gianluigi leaning over the wall. He must have been lost in his thoughts not to hear him coming._

_“You scared me!” Andrea breathed._

_“Something bad on your conscience, dear Andrea?” Gianluigi smiled._

_“Nothing I would know about,” Andrea said and sat down on the chair close to the window. “What are you doing here at this hour?”_

_Gianluigi looked around, passed Andrea’s easel and caressed the brushes on the table next to it._

_“Big things are about to happen, Andrea,” he said. “The Golden Age of Florence is over, and the peace we now have is fragile. It won’t last after Lorenzo is dead, and Lorenzo won’t last for long.”_

_Andrea nodded and looked up at his friend. He knew it, but he didn’t understand why it should worry him that much. He was a painter, which meant that he never had enough money, despite Florence being a rich city. The problem was that it was full of artists, and they were all almost equally skilled. What decided about someone becoming richer and more famous than the others were not skills but powerful friends. He had very little of them now, and if things were about to change, it probably couldn’t get any worse._

_“There is still Piero,” he noted._

_“Piero is a brat,” Gianluigi sighed. “Arrogant, undisciplined, and weak. How long until everything here is ruled by that fanatic Savonarola, how long until he manages to pass all his sacred laws? Not only has he preached against sodomy, adultery and other things that have become quite common here and that I wouldn’t like to give up…”_

_Andrea smiled. If it was anyone else, it would maybe make him indignant, but it was Gianluigi. Scandalous actions and words simply belonged to him._

_“He even wants to burn people alive for immodest dress, for Christ’s sake!”_

_“You better give up that brocade coat then, Gianluigi!” Andrea laughed._

_Gianluigi grinned and sat on the armrest of Andrea’s chair._

_“Giving up my coat is one thing,” he whispered and locked his fingers in Andrea’s hair. “Giving up you is another.”_

_Andrea found himself leaning into Gianluigi’s touch. It was indecent and wrong to have such thoughts, but with Gianluigi, when they were alone, it didn’t even feel that way._

_“I don’t want to lose you,” Gianluigi said quietly. “I would never forgive myself if something was to happen to you.”_

_Andrea looked into his friend’s blue eyes. In the dim light, they looked darker than he remembered them._

_“We have so much to live out yet, so many things to see…” Gianluigi continued, leaning in and placing a few chaste kisses on Andrea’s lips._

_Andrea gasped when Gianluigi’s lips dropped to his neck. A lightning came down from the dark, cloudy sky and illuminated the room. The unfinished paintings suddenly gave it an eerie look. Andrea could feel a strange shiver going down his spine and he couldn’t tell if it was caused by the rather scary atmosphere of the night or the proximity of the two of them._

_“Forgive me, Andrea,” Gianluigi whispered, looking up at the younger man. “Forgive me for this.”_

_Andrea wanted to ask what he was apologizing for, but before he could speak a word, Gianluigi sunk his teeth into Andrea’s neck and everything went black._

 

**Milan, present day**

Andrea sighed deeply at the sight of the club he was about to enter.

“Do we really have to go there?” he asked.

“Oh, come on!” Daniele rolled his eyes. “It’s been decades since you last partied hard.”

“I don’t party hard, Daniele, you know that.”

“Really?” Daniele smirked. “So the one who danced to Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear by Elvis Presley in the late fifties wasn’t you, right?”

Andrea gave him a death stare.

“Don’t remind me of that period.”

Daniele giggled and grabbed Andrea’s arm.

“Come on, it will be fun!”

“I’m not sure, Daniele… So many humans in one place…”

“You’re not hungry, are you?” Daniele asked.

“No, I had two doses, but…”

“Then you don’t have to worry. I know you, Andrea. You’re not one of those who would yield to temptation.”

Andrea wasn’t entirely persuaded, after all, he never trusted himself too much. It’s been more than seventy years since he last drank human blood, but he owed that to a strict discipline, definitely not a lack of appetite or change of tastes. But he really wasn’t hungry and truth was that he needed some fun. He returned to Milan after a long time and was surprised that it didn’t feel like home anymore. He never got used to the fact that when he went to his favorite places, the buildings sometimes weren’t even standing anymore.

“Fine. Let’s go,” he said finally.

They entered the club and Andrea gasped at the sudden impact. So much blood pulsating under flushed and heated skins, so much energy, so much  _life_ …

He shook his head and followed Daniele to the bar. Suddenly he stopped and looked to one table. He immediately regretted entering the club.

“No way!” a tall, dark haired man exclaimed and took off his sunglasses. “It can’t be…”

“Hello, Gigi,” Andrea said coolly.

Gigi got up from the table. Andrea had to admit that he never lost the nonchalance that he found so charming the first time he met Gigi in Florence. Of course, otherwise he also hasn’t changed, only now he was wearing a white shirt, perfectly fitting jeans and a scarf.

“You came back home, eh?” Gigi chuckled. “It’s been a while.”

“What are you doing here?” Andrea asked. “I never thought you liked Milan that much.”

“Well, you know me. I got involved in a little scandal in Turin, which means I can’t turn up there for the next two hundred years or so, and I thought why not Milan?”

Andrea believed him the first part, he wasn’t buying into the second. There was definitely some reason why Gigi chose Milan.

“Come on, sit down…” Gigi gestured to the table like they last saw each other yesterday, not almost seventy years ago, like they were still friends.  

“Thanks, but I’m here with a friend.”

Gigi’s eyes flew over to Daniele, who was standing a few steps away from them.

“Oh, I’m sure that  _barone_  De Rossi won’t mind if I borrow you for a couple of minutes. He’s been enjoying your company since the end of the Second World War.”

Andrea sighed and with an apologetic gesture towards Daniele followed Gigi to the table. He immediately recognized that the two men who were sitting with Gigi weren’t human.

“Oh, I forgot to introduce you!” Gigi said. “Claudio, Alessandro… this is my old friend Andrea. We haven’t seen each other for a really long time. I hope you don’t mind leaving us alone for a while…”

The two men nodded and left the table immediately.

“Your servants?” Andrea asked.

“Andrea, it’s not called like that for about one hundred years already,” Gigi frowned. “They are my employees.”

He chuckled and tapped Andrea on the shoulder.

“You’re right. Servants they are.”

Andrea couldn’t understand how Gigi could be so relaxed. When he remembered the way they parted last time, it made him feel awkward and cold towards the man who once was his best friend. In the language of the modern world, friend with benefits.

“So, are you still on your… diet?” Gigi asked casually.

“Yes, thank you for asking.”

Gigi snorted and rolled his eyes.

“Damn, Andrea. When will you finally realize that it’s nonsense? It can’t be even healthy! Some artificial thing based on coconut milk, for fuck’s sake, even the way it sounds is ridiculous!”

“Why are you here, Gigi?” Andrea asked. “If it’s just to persuade me to go back to feeding on people, you can leave. I’m not drinking human blood ever again.”

Gigi sighed and looked around them. Then he leaned closer.

“It was an accident, Andrea. A lamentable accident, but it doesn’t mean that it would happen again if you…”

“It could happen again, Gigi. I have to make sure that it doesn’t.”

Gigi rolled his eyes again.

“Let’s talk about you,” Andrea said then, trying to sound as polite as he could. “What have you been up to, last seventy years?”

“Nothing interesting. These times are so boring, Andrea. I made some fortune on the sun-block industry, you know… actually, at first I thought I was going to use the sunscreen invention for my own purposes, but the humans jumped on it when I introduced it, it’s funny.”

“It doesn’t surprise me, you’ve always been a good businessman.”

Gigi laughed. Then he took a deep breath and looked around.

“Can you smell this, Andrea?”

Andrea involuntarily took a deeper breath and immediately felt the strange hunger that couldn’t be satisfied with food. He hated himself for it.

“Something in here smells  _so_  good,” Gigi said, licking his lips. “Don’t want to taste it?”

“No, thanks, I’m good,” Andrea said, surprised how much self-control it took him to sound calm and uninterested. “I’ll go. You…”

Gigi looked at him with the familiar cheeky smile he had prepared for the occasions on which Andrea tried to moralize with him.

“You keep your teeth off the humans here, alright?” Andrea said.

“You go,” Gigi confirmed. “I’m going to check what delicious things we have in here.”

 

**_Milan, 2006_ **

_Riccardo ran up the stairs and opened the door that led to his guardian’s office._

_“You did it again!” he shouted. “I told you I didn’t need you to treat me like a little kid, why do you have to…”_

_“Riccardo!” Cesare interrupted him, his voice still calm despite his protégé’s attacking tone. “I’m talking to someone.”_

_Riccardo turned around and looked at the young man who was sitting in one of the leather armchairs and smiling awkwardly._

_“Oh, hi. Sorry.”_

_He turned back to Cesare, swallowing all his questions about why he had a meeting at two in the morning._

_“Excuse me, but I have to talk to you.”_

_“Of course. We can talk when I’m done here.”_

_Riccardo slammed the door behind him and started pacing around the hall. He was slightly drunk and considerably angry. He almost didn’t notice when the door opened and the man walked out. He crossed one of Riccardo’s endless circles and ended up bumping into him._

_“Sorry,” he said, looking up at Riccardo. “You… you can go in. I mean… Cesare said you could.”_

_“Yeah,” Riccardo nodded, feeling a bit awkward but not letting it show. “Thanks…”_

_“Alberto,” the man said and stretched out his hand._

_“Nice to meet you, Alberto. I’m Riccardo.”_

_They shook hands and smiled at each other._

_“Don’t let him charm you, Gilardino!” Cesare’s voice sounded from the door. “He may look innocent, but he’s a little demon. You could find yourself complying with all his wishes, no matter how expensive. Just like me.”_

_“Fortunately the only thing I could afford to get him is a glass of coke,” Alberto laughed. “Good night, signore. Good night, Riccardo.”_

_Once the door closed behind Alberto, Riccardo turned to Cesare._

_“You had to send a car for me again, like I was a six years old kid who can’t go home alone!”_

_“Yes, I had to.”_

_“I’m not a kid, Cesare, I’m twenty-one! And it’s been like this since I was ten. I could never go from school alone, now I can’t even go out without having someone behind my back. Why can’t I be for once like everyone else?”_

_“I promised your parents that I would protect you,” Cesare said._

_“Protect me from what?”_

_“Everything. And the least I can do is to make sure you get home safe when you want to stay out late.”_

_Riccardo sighed. It was always the same thing. Always the same bullshit about protecting him, while he never found out what Cesare wanted to protect him from. When he was younger, he even thought Cesare was involved with the Mafia, which would explain the meetings at unusual hours and all the secrets he kept from him. But as he grew older, he rejected that version. Cesare was simply too upright for that._

_Sometimes he even contemplated moving out, but the pros never even came close to the cons. He liked his comfort after all._

_“It’s always the same,” he spat out. “Always the same bullshit.”_

_“You’re drunk, Riccardo,” Cesare stated. “Go to bed.”_

_Riccardo pouted and headed to his room._

_“Better lock me up, won’t you?” he snapped._

_“I might,” Cesare said calmly._

_Riccardo slammed the door behind him so hard that a picture fell off the wall next to it._

_“Fine!” he mumbled. “We’ll see who gets tired of this game first.”_

 


	2. Two

**Milan, present day**

Gigi could walk with his eyes closed, the smell would be enough to guide him. He headed to the bar, trying to look as casual as he could. He localized the table it was coming from and scanned the young couple that was sitting there. From that distance he couldn’t recognize whose smell it was.

The girl whispered something in the boy’s ear and got up. Gigi watched her as she made her way between the dancing people. He made sure to cross her way, crashing into her and immediately catching her, steadying her gently.

“I’m so sorry!” he said, his arms still around her.

Now he was sure. It wasn’t her.

“It’s alright,” she smiled.

She was gorgeous, perfect body in red satin dress, soft dark curls running down her shoulders. But she didn’t interest Gigi anymore.

“I didn’t see you. Please, excuse my clumsiness,” Gigi said, bending over and kissing her hand.

She laughed awkwardly and continued to the restrooms. Gigi leaned over the bar again and looked at the boy. He smiled contentedly. There was a plan on his mind.

***

Andrea ran into his house, followed by Daniele.

“Andrea!” Daniele shouted. “Andrea, what’s wrong?”

Some clinking of glass came in response from the kitchen and then Andrea walked out with a jar of red liquid.

“You didn’t… you didn’t feel it?” he asked.

“What?”

“Blood.”

Daniele frowned.

“There were a lot of humans. A lot of blood.”

“This was different,” Andrea said, drinking up the liquid. “Stronger.”

He cursed in his mind. It wasn’t enough. For the first time in seventy years, it wasn’t enough.

He grabbed the car keys and looked at the clock. It wasn’t too late. They could still be open.

“Where are you going?” Daniele asked, now completely worried.

“To a restaurant,” Andrea said, trying to sound casual. “I’m hungry.”

The ride took him a few minutes. He knew the restaurant quite well already, and everyone knew him there. Even if the kitchen was already closed, he was sure they wouldn’t reject him.

“Mr. Pirlo!” the waiter said when Andrea walked in. “I’ll bring the menu.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Andrea said politely. “I’ll have a steak.”

“How would you like it?”

Andrea licked his lips despite himself.

“Rare.  _Very_  rare.”

 

**Milan, 2006**

_Alberto started the car and waited for the gatekeeper to open the gate. Cesare Prandelli’s mansion was probably the safest place in Milan. Probably in the whole Italy._

_He drove home, which didn’t take him too long. His mind was somewhere else and as he drove into the street where his loaned apartment was, he practically just relied on the fact that he knew the way by heart._

_“Hello!” sounded from the back seat._

_Alberto almost crashed into a wall. He hit the brakes and turned around._

_“What the hell are you doing there?”_

_“Sorry, it was the only way to escape without Cesare knowing,” Riccardo grinned, climbing over to the front seat. “So… do you wanna go partying with me?”_

_Alberto looked at him incredulously._

_“Or you have something else in mind?” Riccardo smiled, playing with his hair._

_Alberto’s mouth was dry and he didn’t know where to look to distract himself._

_“I think last time you said you could get me a glass of coke,” Riccardo said, now in a less predatory way, like he didn’t want to scare Alberto too much. “I could use one right now.”_

_Alberto didn’t even know how he ended up on the sofa in his apartment, with Riccardo kissing him without even asking if it was what Alberto wanted. Alberto, on the other hand, didn’t do anything to make Riccardo think he didn’t want it._

_“You planned it, didn’t you?” Alberto asked, a bit out of breath._

_Riccardo raised his eyebrows and smirked._

_“I always get what I want, you know.”_

_“You’re such a spoiled brat!” Alberto breathed._

_“Yeah?” Riccardo laughed in his ear. “What are you gonna do about it?”_

_Alberto watched Riccardo’s fingers unbutton his shirt, unable to move, caught between the “for God’s sake, don’t stop” and “Prandelli will kill me if he finds out”. He gasped when Riccardo’s hands slid down his naked chest and he grabbed a fistful of Riccardo’s hair, half in an attempt to stop him, half in need to get at least some control._

_Riccardo gave him a winning smile and his mouth hovered above Alberto’s._

_“Come on, Gilardino!” he whispered. “Teach me how to be good.”_

 

**Milan, present day**

The car was waiting outside as always. It didn’t even make Riccardo mad anymore. It got better when he started to go out with Cristina. She found it really cool that he had a driver, and he found it amusing when Federico drove Cristina home first and Riccardo went up with her and let Federico wait for hours.

Of course, there were still his secret adventures with Alberto that weren’t entirely secret, but rather tolerated by Cesare. Cesare wasn’t blind and Alberto was such a bad actor. If it was just for Riccardo, he would never find out, he could act like Alberto was just someone he once met and like Cristina was the only person he could think about. It wasn’t like he didn’t like her, he did, he liked them both. Sometimes he actually thought that he would never give up Alberto for Cristina, same as he would never give up Cristina for Alberto, but he didn’t have to think about it because he could just as well have both.

“I’m drunk,” Cristina said as she half-lay on the back seat.

“I see,” Riccardo laughed.

“Mind if I use you as a pillow?”

“Not at all.”

Cristina snuggled up to him, laying her head on his chest. The smell of her perfume was stronger now that her body was warmer. Riccardo liked it. After all, it was him who gave it to her.

“Let’s take this sleeping beauty home, Federico,” he said.

***

Gigi looked at the lights of the car slowly disappearing. Then he turned to Claudio and Alessandro.

“Bring me that sweet thing.  _Complete_ , understood?” he said.

Claudio and Alessandro nodded, but Gigi noticed the obvious disappointment in their faces. He could feel their pain. There wasn’t anything in the world he would want more than to taste this dainty he was so lucky to find.

“You can keep the girl and the driver,” he told them.


	3. Three

**_Milan, 2006_ **

_“So what do you really do for Cesare?” Riccardo asked._

_Alberto looked at him and sighed. He could have had that little demon (yes, he had to agree with Cesare on this) on his knees, obeying his every command, or disobeying ever so slightly just to give Alberto a pretext to punish him, he could have had him begging for more and oh, please, Gila, I will do anything, but once the game was over, it was again the old Riccardo, the spoiled child who always got what he wanted._

_“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Alberto said._

_“Try me.”_

_“Well, I’m hunting something down for him.”_

_“Something like what?”_

_Alberto took a deep breath. Prandelli would kill him if he knew that he told Riccardo. But compared to what he did just a few minutes ago, it was probably nothing. Either way, he was royally fucked._

_“Vampires.”_

_Riccardo looked at him for a second. Then he started to laugh._

_“Alright,” he said then, wiping away a tear. “How many have you hunted down so far?”_

_“A few.”_

_“And what do you do with them?”_

_“Kill them.”_

_“I thought they were already dead.”_

_“Technically they are, but actually they’re somewhere in the middle.”_

_“So you like… run that stake through them or what it is.”_

_“No. That’s a myth created by the authors of all that crappy books and movies. It doesn’t work that way. The only thing that can kill a vampire is a silver dagger. Right into their heart.”_

_Riccardo looked at him and opened his mouth._

_“You’re fucking serious?!”_

_Alberto shrugged._

_“I said you wouldn’t believe me.”_

_“No, I…” Riccardo said and looked him in the eyes. “The worst thing is that I sort of believe you. Fuck, my brain must be so messed up.”_

_“It’s alright,” Alberto smiled. “I thought that too, when I first found out.”_

 

**Milan, present day**

Riccardo’s head hurt, and he couldn’t remember why. The last thing he could remember was something hitting their car.

He sat up and looked around. He was in a room that he didn’t recognize, and it scared the hell out of him. Then he found out that he wasn’t alone, which scared him even more. He searched the room with his eyes in panic.

“Cristina?”

The man on his left raised his eyebrows and looked at the other one.

“Cool!” he said. “Alessandro, your dinner was called Cristina. Sounds good, eh?”

“Shut up, Claudio!” Alessandro snapped. “You wouldn’t want to know how yours was called.”

“You’re being really disrespectful towards our guest!” a voice said.

Riccardo looked up and saw a tall man with dark hair and blue eyes. Claudio and Alessandro were gone. He didn’t even notice them leaving.

“Hi,” the man said casually. “I’m Gigi.”

Riccardo didn’t care at all who he was, all he wanted was to get the fuck out of there. He took advantage of the man walking over to a table on the other side of the room, got up and started running to the door.

“That’s not very polite,” Gigi said calmly.

Riccardo stopped and stared at the door in horror. The door shut itself. No. The man shut it. Using nothing but his  _eyes_.

“What… what are you?” Riccardo asked, turning around to face him.

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” Gigi smiled.

Riccardo took a deep breath. He knew it. In the very rare moments when he and Gila actually talked, he told him quite a few things. Enough to recognize what this man was. It was just hard to acknowledge.

“You’re a vampire,” he whispered.

“Clever boy!” Gigi said.

Riccardo’s head was spinning and he felt dizzy. He wasn’t entirely sure if it was due to whatever happened to him in the car, or due to standing face to face with a vampire.

“Better sit down,” Gigi said, gently pushing him towards the big antique sofa.

He reached for something on the table. Riccardo looked at the knife in his hand and tried to crawl away from him. Gigi lazily reached out for him and pulled him back like a puppy.

“You humans are so jumpy,” he muttered. “One barely touches you…”

“Touches?” Riccardo yelled at him. “You’re holding a fucking knife!”

“Oh!” Gigi said, looking at the knife in his hand. “Yeah. But don’t worry, I sanitized it.”

If he was to be honest, the last thing Riccardo was worried about was if the knife was  _clean_.

“Don’t you normally use your teeth?” he asked sarcastically.

“Normally yes,” Gigi replied calmly. “But as I want to present you as a gift to my old friend, it would be very unhygienic, impolite and unaesthetic to sink my teeth into your neck when I just need to be sure that you taste as good as you smell.”

Riccardo decided that for the moment it would be best to give up on trying understanding the vampire logic and just let things happen, as the vampire didn’t seem like he wanted to kill him  _now_.

“So you’re not going to kill me?” he assured himself.

Gigi rolled his eyes.

“You’re acting like death was the worst thing that could happen to you,” he said. “Try nine hundred years of damnation.”

Riccardo just stared at him. Death was  _pretty_  bad, when it came to him.

“Fine, that’s how I like it. Keep that mouth shut and show me that pretty neck of yours. Maybe it won’t even hurt.”

Riccardo jumped back a second before the tip of the knife could touch him.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” he yelled.

“Oh no!” Gigi rolled his eyes. “I was already starting to like you.”

Riccardo put up the best fight he could, with a slightly spinning head and the need to avoid the knife in Gigi’s hand. Gigi looked like he was enjoying it, the initial surprised smile changing into a wider grin. By the time he pinned Riccardo down on the sofa, he was already laughing heartily.

“Not bad, for a human!” he said. “Okay, it was fun, now cut it.”

Riccardo was too exhausted to fight him anymore, closing his eyes as if it could defend him from something. He felt a scratch on his neck, but that was it.

“See? So much fuss for nothing!” Gigi said.

***

Alberto looked at Cesare who was shaking his head desperately.

“I was so stupid…”

“You couldn’t have done more,” Alberto said.

He glanced over to Cristina. He hoped that he had found her in time. The second dose of blood was almost gone and she was still pale and cold to the touch.

“Are you sure it was them, Alberto?” Cesare asked.

“Look at her. What else could it be?”

“But there weren’t any attacks in Milan since the sixties, after I got rid of that prick Cassano. That’s why I moved here.”

“Well...” Alberto said, turning his head to Cristina as he heard a quiet gasp. “Seems like they’re back.”

Cristina opened her eyes slowly and looked at Alberto. Then her eyes flickered to Cesare and she blinked in surprise.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe,” Alberto said. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I don’t know what it was…” she whispered. “Something was in the car… I don’t know what it was…”

“It’s alright,” Alberto said quietly. “Just rest.”

“Why does my neck hurt so much?” she asked, lifting her hand to touch it.

Alberto stopped her and shot a glance at Cesare. 

“Find him, Alberto!” Cesare said. “And I want the ones who did it dead. Dead  _forever_.”


	4. Four

**_Brescia, 1941_ **

_Gigi woke up before sunrise. Normally he wasn’t used to getting up so early, as he usually stayed up late, but in the last few years nothing was going on once the darkness fell._

_He hated the war. It brought the most boring, risky and hungry period of his existence. There were no people on the street at night, which meant he had to feed by daylight and that was never a good thing. Apart from that, there were no parties, nothing to do, and last but not least, he found the fashion pretty much terrible._

_He even thought of joining the army because it could give him something to do, there would be enough humans to feed on, it would be easier to cover up his acts, and the uniforms were probably the best thing one could wear. But letting some little human full of complexes command him and tell him how to clean his shoes, thank you very much, Gigi could live without that._

_He felt a bit hungry as the last dose he got was some soldier who forgot he wasn’t supposed to hang out on the streets alone, and that was two days ago. Gigi felt a little bit bad about it as it was technically a treason, but in the times of war one was supposed to protect the civilians, right?_

_Some desperate banging on the door interrupted him in contemplating going out to feed on the enemy if he could find some close enough, to make up for his last meal. He groaned and went to the door._

_“What...” he started when he opened the door._

_He didn’t get any further, because in the next moment Andrea was in his arms, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably._

_“Gigi, I... I don’t know what I did...”_

_“Hey, calm down, tell me what happened,” Gigi said, half-carrying his friend inside._

_“I don’t know what happened, I don’t remember doing it…”_

_“Doing what?”_

_Andrea looked up at him and Gigi would swear that he had never seen such pain in Andrea’s face._

_“Deborah…” he whispered._

 

**Milan, present day**

Claudio looked at Alessandro and laughed.

“You’re drunk!”

“She was, so I’m too!” Alessandro shrugged. “I seriously forgot why the humans drink so much. The hangover is terrible, you know how long it will last me?”

“Wonderful, it will be easier to fuck you, then!” Claudio grinned.

“Fuck yourself, I got a terrible headache already and I’m not even sober yet!” Alessandro groaned.

“But I fuck myself every night, and it’s becoming a bit boring, you know!”

“Gentlemen, I need you to deliver something!” Gigi interrupted them.

“Couldn’t that wait until I’m sober?” Alessandro asked.

“No, it can’t wait for fifty years!”

Alessandro sighed and got up. He felt like he was dead – which he was, of course, but his first death was nothing compared to this. Claudio looked much better. He got a good dose out of that driver and now he was full of energy. Alessandro didn’t know why, but when he got his dose, he always wanted to just lie down and do nothing. Claudio, on the other hand, always looked like he overdosed on caffeine. Once during the carnival in Venice, he partied in every single palace that held a banquet, and finished with running up about a thousand stairs to the highest tower in the city and jumping down in front of about fifty people whom he scared to death, even more after Claudio just got up from the ground, waved at them and disappeared into the night. When the vampire council found out about it, they were really furious. And of course it was Alessandro’s fault that he didn’t stop him (like someone could actually stop Claudio when he got a crazy idea), and of course he ended up being kicked out of the council with him, which meant that instead of having the privilege of feeding on whomever he wanted and doing whatever he wanted, he had to serve one of the noble vampires and he could only feed with his permission, which sucked.

“Why do we have to do these things? It’s like he only makes up crazy plans to keep us occupied, or I don’t get it!” Claudio said when they were heading to the place Gigi told them to deliver his gift.

“Shut up!” Alessandro snapped. “You got us into this, remember? For six hundred years, because you had to jump off a fucking tower. Better do what you’re told to do, because when we come back to the council, I don’t want them to extend the punishment for another six hundred years!”

Claudio muttered something and looked at Riccardo who was walking between them, pretending that he didn’t exist and that he didn’t have any blood inside him (he didn’t know how to pretend such thing, but for sure he was trying his best).

“Do you think Gigi would find out if I…” Claudio started.

“Six hundred years, Claudio!” Alessandro growled. “Keep your teeth off him.”

“But…”

Alessandro gave him a threatening look and pulled Riccardo closer to him, out of Claudio’s reach. Riccardo decided that he liked Alessandro a lot. At least as much as he could like a vampire.     

***

Andrea was getting ready to go to bed. When he lived with Deborah, he got used to the human lifestyle and even though he technically didn’t need to sleep, he simply went to bed when it was late and set his alarm clock to 8 am, even though there wasn’t anything he’d have to do in the morning.

There was a knock on the door. Andrea frowned. He didn’t expect anyone. For sure it couldn’t be any of his human neighbors, they were all asleep at this hour.

He opened the door and frowned even more. There were the two of Gigi’s servants standing at the doorstep, and between them… a human?

“Excuse us…” Claudio said and pushed the human towards Andrea. “But Gigi asked us to deliver this to you.”


	5. Five

Andrea sat on the sofa in his living room and looked at the human curled up on the other side of the sofa, as far as he could get from him. For Andrea, the distance only helped, so he wasn’t trying to get any closer to him. He sighed. The communication between them was anything but smooth. It took Andrea about half an hour to find out at least the human’s  _name_ , as he wasn’t like Gigi for whom it was alright to call humans “food”, or “little snack” when he wanted to use a diminutive.

“Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “I’m not going to drink your blood.”

“Yeah?” Riccardo snapped. “What are you? Vegetarian?”

Andrea didn’t look offended at all.

“Something like that,” he nodded. “I don’t drink human blood.”

Now, a vampire who didn’t drink human blood, that was something new. But actually, this vampire seemed to be a much better vampire than a regular one.

“Fine, then let me go!” Riccardo suggested.

“That will be a problem.”

They both jumped up from the sofa when they heard Gigi’s voice. When they turned around, Gigi was casually sitting in one of the armchairs.

“I don’t remember inviting you in!” Andrea said coldly.

“Oh, damn!” Gigi exclaimed, faking horror. “That artificial blood really messes up with your brain. Dear Andrea, you invited me in on the twenty-eighth of April, nineteen forty-five, when I fucked you on the stairs leading to the bedroom. Which also robbed me of the last opportunity to drink a bit of Mussolini’s blood, dammit.”

“You can only thank me for that,” Andrea said. “I think that would make you sick for centuries.”

“Excuse me,” Riccardo interrupted them. “Can we return to the original topic?”

“And that was?” Gigi asked.

“Letting me go.”

“Oh, yes,” Gigi said and got up from the armchair. “Well, as I said, it will be a problem.”

“Why?”

“Because I gave you to Andrea as a gift. And in our society, it’s extremely rude to refuse a gift or to return it. As in, it would get me really, really mad.”

“Gigi…” Andrea said quietly.

“ _Really_  mad. Furious.”

“What’s the point of this, Gigi?” Andrea asked. “I’m not going to drink this boy’s blood. Ever.”

“But why?” Gigi whined, reached out and pulled Riccardo closer to him. “I tasted him, two or three drops and it almost shot me up in the sky. Just look at him, just… tell me it’s not the most delicious thing you’ve ever seen… well, apart from that girl we shared in Rome in… when was it, seventeen ninety-something?”

“Stop reminding me of my past!” Andrea snapped. “I’m not drinking human blood ever again, could you finally accept it as a fact?”

“No!” Gigi said simply and pushed Riccardo towards Andrea with such force that he practically fell into Andrea’s arms. “What do you say now?”

For a moment Riccardo was convinced that Andrea would bite him. There was such  _hunger_  in his eyes… But then he just steadied him and gently pushed him away.

“I say no.”

Gigi growled in frustration. It was clear that he wasn’t used to situations in which the things didn’t go the way he wanted.

“Fine,” he said then, sounding really offended. “Give him back to me, then.”

Andrea looked at him. Gigi licked his lips.

“You know what?” Andrea said with a little smile that was almost mischievous. “I think I’ll keep him.”

“W-what?” Gigi spat out.

“You heard me,” Andrea smiled. “I’ll keep him. Maybe one day I’ll go off the diet, and this could be a delicious starter.”

Gigi frowned.

“Feeding me my own medicine, aren’t you?” he murmured. “Fine. Then I hope you’ll at least think of me when you have this… starter.”

In the next moment he was gone like he was never there. Andrea sighed, ran a hand over his face and looked at Riccardo who was staring at him.

“Coffee?” he asked.

 

**_Rome, 1946_ **

_Gigi was sitting in a café, watching the people passing him by. There was a cup of coffee on the table, together with some newspapers he didn’t even bother to read. He didn’t give a damn about the politics._

_He felt like crap. The argument they had with Andrea last night was the worst they’ve had in centuries. It was even worse than the one they had after Andrea realized that Gigi turned him into a vampire, and that meant something._

_All over such a stupid thing. Because of Andrea’s stubbornness. Gigi was persuaded that he could get him back to normal lifestyle (or was it rather deathstyle?) once he got over Deborah’s death and realized that he couldn’t survive just on animal blood. But then the idiot barone De Rossi comes with his crap invention he had spent all his miserable death on, and Andrea of course jumps around his neck like drinking some artificial thing was the best thing in the world. Gigi even tasted it, just to make Andrea happy. He still felt sick only at the mere thought of it. It made him feel like he just fed, alright, maybe without that euphoria and pleasant feelings, but it tasted terrible, and where was the fun in that?_

_Well, so they broke up. Fine. Gigi could live with that. He could live without Andrea. He did before he knew him, he could go on without him now. Make him regret his stupid decisions. Andrea told him to find a new bloodsucking friend, so he would do just as he was told._

_A young man sat at the table next to Gigi. His hair was so blonde that it was screaming “peroxide” and Gigi wanted to roll his eyes, because why would a man do such thing to himself? It was a thing the cheap actresses would do in a desperate attempt to look like Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo. But after all it suited this boy. Gigi listened to him ordering coffee in a very broken Italian and it made him smile. He kept glancing at him from time to time. He didn’t even know why he interested him so much._    

_“Spoiling coffee with so much sugar?” Gigi asked in Spanish and shook his head disapprovingly._

_The boy smiled half-apologetically, half-curiously._

_“You speak Spanish?”_

_Gigi decided to spare the boy naming all the languages he spoke. He had centuries of free time. He had to learn something even if he didn’t want to. He sat at the boy’s table, not waiting for an invitation._

_“Go ahead if you want to, but there are things that taste better than coffee,” he said with an enigmatic smile, sliding one hand up the boy’s thigh._

_It was almost an inaudible sound, but Gigi’s sensitive vampire hearing could hear the boy’s breath hitch. He laughed in his mind. He got him._

 

**Milan, present day**

They were sitting in Andrea’s kitchen that looked surprisingly normal. Well, Riccardo didn’t know what he expected a vampire’s kitchen to look like. Blood splashed over the walls? He was sure being paranoid now.

The coffee Andrea made him was strong and hot, surely a good brand, and it really helped a lot with the dizziness and exhaustion. Well, some sleep would help more, but falling asleep with crazy vampires around didn’t seem like a good idea.

“So you won’t bite me,” Riccardo assured himself when Andrea sat at the table, in a fairly safe distance.

“No.”

“But you can’t refuse me because it would offend Gigi.”

“I don’t give a damn about what offends him or not anymore.”

Riccardo frowned. Vampire logic was really twisted.

“Then give me back to him.”

“I can’t.”

“You said you didn’t mind…”

“But it’s not about me!” Andrea said. “When I give you back to him, what do you think he will do? He will have you for dessert, because that’s what he would have already done, if he didn’t have this crazy plan of persuading me to drink human blood again. Only the fact that you now belong to me can stop him from doing it. Do you understand? I have to keep you here!”

“For how long?”

The right answer would be “until Gigi stops being obsessed with you”, but that could as well be thirty years.

“Until I can talk some common sense into him,” he said. “You know, he’s offended right now, and when Gigi’s offended he can do terrible things.”

“Like what?”

“Well, when we broke up, he turned a Spanish boy.”

“And?”

Andrea sighed.

“The Spanish vampire council is still dealing with the consequences, and whenever you mention Gigi’s name in front of Iker, their leader, he starts throwing things at you.”  
  
Riccardo gulped and reached for his cup of coffee. For now he didn’t want to know more.


	6. Six

Riccardo indeed fell asleep, after two hundred and fifty six Andrea’s assurances that he wouldn’t bite him in his sleep, and after he pulled a chest of drawers to block the door (which was of course very childish and pointless as he could as well wake up to Gigi sitting on the bed – yes, he actually dreamt about it and woke up with a panic attack).

He crept out of the room and tiptoed downstairs. He wasn’t sure whether vampires slept at all, but he figured that waking up a sleeping vampire might not be the best thing to do.

Then he heard something from the kitchen. Voices. He froze and started contemplating tiptoeing back upstairs.

“I know you are there,” Andrea’s amused voice sounded from the kitchen. “Come here, it’s fine.”

_It’s fine. So I might be a fine breakfast for whoever is there with him._

“Nobody wants you for breakfast!” Andrea chuckled.

_Damn it to the deepest hell, he can see into my head._

He crept into the kitchen and shot a very mistrustful look at the blonde man who was sitting at the table, drinking something from a cup. Riccardo didn’t want to know what it was.

“This is Daniele,” Andrea said. “My-“

“What is  _this_?” Daniele asked, his eyes on Riccardo.

Something apparently shocked him a lot.

“The latest proof of Gigi’s craziness,” Andrea replied.

“He didn’t…”

Andrea just shrugged.

“Oh damn!” Daniele said. “That idiot! I have to go, I’ll be back in the evening!”

He was gone before Andrea could say something.

“Well…” Andrea gasped. “He doesn’t normally act this way. I don’t know what came over him.”

Riccardo didn’t comment on it as a vampire gone wasn’t anything that would upset him. The less of them were around him, the better.

“I suppose Gigi hasn’t changed his mind yet,” he said.

“I suppose Gigi was doing crazy things last night,” Andrea sighed. “And I also suppose that we will learn about the consequences from the papers and news.”

He opened the newspaper on the table and flipped through the first pages. The first two or three were of course taken by that prick Berlusconi, but on the fourth a headline caught Andrea’s attention.

“Two Spanish tourists missing…” he read and sighed. “Here we go.”

***

Andrea walked into his room and found Riccardo looking at the easel in the corner and the sets of brushes covered with dust.

“You’re a painter?” Riccardo asked.

“I was. A long time ago.”

Riccardo looked at him. For some reason, he felt alright in Andrea’s presence. Gigi was crazy, but with Andrea he wouldn’t even know that he wasn’t talking to a human. He was  _normal_.  

“How old are you, actually?” Riccardo asked.

Andrea smiled nostalgically.

“I was born in fourteen sixty.”

Riccardo gasped.

“Are you trying to tell me that you’re more than five hundred years old?”

“Five hundred and fifty-two, yes.”

“What were you doing all these years?”

“Well, I was a painter in the fifteenth century, a poet in the sixteenth… that was a huge mistake, I was terrible…”

Riccardo laughed.

“Well, I traveled a lot, just tried to spend the time somehow. Gigi is much better at this. Wherever he goes, he fits in. He felt just as well in a brocade coat as he now does in jeans.”

“It was him who… turned you?”

Andrea nodded.

“Why did he do it?”

“Well, I guess out of friendship. Love too, maybe.”

“You turn your friends into vampires because you like them?”

“If you want to keep them forever, you don’t have other choice,” Andrea sighed. “It’s not easy to live forever. Watch your beloved ones die while you simply live on, you don’t age. You can’t stay anywhere for too long, because people start to notice.”

“Sounds like it sucks big time.”

Andrea laughed bitterly.

“Yeah, it does.”

He sat in the chaise longue next to the easel. Riccardo sat next to him. They were much closer than ever before. Andrea was glad that Riccardo wasn’t so scared of him anymore, but on the other hand it took much more effort to control his vampire instincts.

“I mean, you can’t even like… have a girlfriend for too long,” Riccardo said quietly. “Or boyfriend. If they’re not vampires.”

“That’s true.”

“You must feel lonely.”

Andrea looked at him. There was something strangely familiar in the way Riccardo was looking at him. Like they had met before, like it wasn’t the first time they were sitting next to each other like this. Well, after all it was possible that he had met one of his ancestors. He couldn’t remember all the people he met in over five hundred years.

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “But I’ve always been a loner. Never enjoyed the parties, huge company… I preferred to stay home and paint.”

“I’m the complete opposite,” Riccardo sighed. “Probably I should have rather stayed home yesterday, read a fucking book or something.”

Andrea reached out and wrapped his arm around Riccardo’s shoulders. In the very next moment he had him in his arms, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. And he wondered why the five hundred and fifty-two years didn’t teach him how to deal with such situation.

***

Gigi sat on the sofa and reached for the remote control. It was the time when The Vampire Diaries were aired and Gigi was proud of never missing an episode. It was his favorite way of relaxing. He always had a good laugh.

“You fucking idiot!”

Gigi turned to the door lazily.

“Hello, Andrea. I feel honored. But could it wait for an hour of so?”

“No.”

“Come on, Andrea!” Gigi groaned. “I really want to know if Elena and Stefan reunite!”

Andrea gave him a confused stare and then folded his arms.

“Fine, we’ll talk now!” Gigi sighed, opened the door and yelled at Claudio and Alessandro that he wanted them to record the episode for him. “So, what is it?”

“Do you know who it is?” Andrea asked through gritted teeth.

“Who is who?”

“The human you brought to my house last night!”

Gigi raised his eyebrows and sat back on the sofa.

“I don’t know. Sweet delicious thing it is. Does it matter who it is?” he cooed.

“It fucking does!” Andrea yelled. “It’s Prandelli’s protégé. As in  _that_  Cesare Prandelli, who had Cassano’s heart cut out, you ignorant!”

It didn’t seem like it made an impact on Gigi. He let out a slightly surprised “oh” and then made himself more comfortable on the sofa.

“I don’t feel like ending up with a silver dagger in my heart!” Andrea said. “Which is exactly what Prandelli will do to me if he finds out!”

Gigi snorted.

“Nonsense.”

“And it’s not just me, Gigi, it’s Daniele as well, and Fabio and the young Giovinco… So far he’s left us alone because we’re…”

“On a diet.”

“Call it however you want to call it. He didn’t mind me and Daniele being in Milan, even though he probably knew about us. But what do you think he will do now?”

“It’s just so you, Andrea!” Gigi sighed. “Seeing problems where there aren’t any.”

Andrea really wanted to slap him. The only reason why he didn’t do it was that Gigi would probably find it very amusing.

“I would say there is a huge problem!”

Gigi smirked and stretched out lazily. Andrea knew he was making it on purpose. He knew how sexy he looked, moving like a giant cat.

“Doesn’t have to be, there’s a simple solution.”

“Which is?”

Finally Gigi seemed to speak seriously. He sat up and looked at Andrea.

“Prandelli is quite a fanatic, but he wouldn’t hurt his protégé.”

Andrea frowned. Gigi spread his arms.

“So it’s simple!” he laughed. “Turn him!”


	7. Seven

**_Milan, 2010_ **

_Riccardo stretched out lazily in the bed, watching Alberto gather his clothes around the room. The mornings with Alberto were a lot different than those with Cristina. Not better, just different. He liked both. Alberto looking for wherever his shirt was dropped at night, complaining about every single sore muscle and “You idiot, unlike you I have to work, you know?” was as enjoyable to watch as Cristina drying her hair and spraying perfume on her neck and dabbing it behind her ears. While Alberto always rushed out after pulling the covers over Riccardo’s head, which he explained by “Hide yourself and stop tempting me or I’ll be late again!”, with Cristina there was always some morning coffee and biscuits (because none of them would bother with going out to get real breakfast) and they actually talked about their plans for the day, while with Alberto asking him what his plans for the day were usually resulted in a variation of “Don’t know, tracking down this bastard, hope to get him soon, will call you tomorrow if I’m still alive, bye.”_

_“Hey, Gila…” Riccardo said and propped himself up on his elbows. “I’ve been wondering… if a vampire bites you, you become a vampire too?”_

_“No,” Alberto replied and bent down to look for his socks under the armchair. “No, they have to bite you and kill you and you have to drink blood and all that stuff, it’s complicated.”_

_“So they kind of got it right on the Vampire Diaries.”_

_Alberto chuckled._

_“You really watch that thing?”_

_“Cristina does,” Riccardo defended himself. “She goes on and on about it, it’s hard to ignore.”_

_Alberto gave him a look that was meant to say “I’m not buying into that”, and finally fished his socks from underneath the sofa._

_“Why are you asking? Are you interested in becoming a vampire yourself?”_

_“To have you hunting me down? No, thank you.”_

_“Fine,” Alberto said. “I’m going to Naples, there’s some bloodsucking bastard it seems. I’ll call you if…”_

_“If you’re still alive, I know!” Riccardo rolled his eyes. “Have enough silver daggers?”_

_“Always!” Alberto grinned and leaned in to press his lips against Riccardo’s. “Be a good boy when I’m gone!”_

_“Can’t promise anything.”_

_Alberto sighed and picked up his keys._

_“Hey, Gila!” Riccardo called when Alberto was almost out of the door._

_“What?”_

_“If I were a vampire, you’d never get me, you know?”_

_Alberto raised his eyebrows, smirked and closed the door behind him._

 

**Milan, present day**

“I’m really sorry,” Andrea said quietly.

Riccardo looked at him and narrowed his eyes.

“Yeah, you’re just going to drink my blood, then kill me and turn me into a vampire, which means I will never live normally, but I will live  _forever_ , so… yeah, you being sorry really helps!”

“I understand that you’re angry.”

“No,” Riccardo said and looked at him, not so hatefully this time. “I’m not angry. Just… scared.”

“Of course,” Andrea nodded. “It’s natural.”

“Does it hurt?” Riccardo asked.

“It’s not that bad when you don’t fight it.”

‘Not that bad’ sounded nothing like ‘not at all’ which he wanted to hear, and Riccardo was pretty sure that he  _would_  fight it, a lot.

“Fine,” he said then and stood up. “Do it now.”

_If I have to be dead – no, undead – better be done with it as soon as possible._

“No, sit down,” Andrea directed him. “It will be easier like that.”

Riccardo didn’t question that, as he gave up on vampire logic already. He closed his eyes when he felt Andrea touch his neck.

“Hey guys! Mind if I join in?”

Riccardo’s eyes flew open and Andrea jumped up at the sound of the voice.

“Gigi!” Andrea said through gritted teeth. “This is a rather intimate moment, so we would appreciate if you could leave us alone.”

“Alright, alright…” Gigi said but made no movement whatsoever that would suggest that he intended to leave. “I was just thinking, a turning  _ménage à trois_  would be really hot…”

“Gigi!”

“You’re going to bite him anyways, so why couldn’t I get a few drops as well? Don’t be so mean, Andrea!”

“Get out of here! Now!”

“It’s always like this,” Gigi muttered. “I give you the best things and then you refuse to share!”

“This was your idea, Gigi. And it’s not fun for me.”

“It could be! Come on, Andrea! Reconciliation bloodsucking and maybe some fun if our little human doesn’t mind…” Gigi smirked and sat on the bed. “Besides that, you know how long you’ve been off human blood. How do you know that you’ll stop in time? I should make sure you leave him some blood, otherwise you can’t turn him, of course.”

Now that sounded reasonable, at least to Riccardo. No matter how scared he was, being “undead” still sounded better than “dead” to him.

“Let him stay,” he said.

“Are you sure?” Andrea asked while a winning smile appeared on Gigi’s face.

“It’s not like I have a choice. So better let this be over. If it’s two or five of you, I don’t care.”

Gigi practically beamed with happiness, he looked at Andrea with a wide grin on his face as he cuddled Riccardo like a giant teddy bear.

“Oh, I like him!” he exclaimed. “I was afraid you might poison him with your moralities and stuff, but luckily it seems he likes me better!”

“I don’t like  _any_  of you, fuck off!” Riccardo yelled, but Gigi barely seemed to notice.

Actually, it seemed like Gigi was a master of ignoring people’s negative comments about him.

“Now, let go of him!” Andrea snapped. “I would have been already done with it if you didn’t turn it into one of your fucking comedies!”

As he reminded him what was actually going on there (which was quite easy to forget, with Gigi’s theatrical play), suddenly Andrea looked like the more evil one, like the determined one. Riccardo turned to Gigi as if he could save him, and looked at him with the big blue eyes.

“I don’t want to become a vampire.” It was meant to be an affirmation, but it came out as barely a whisper.

“Of course you don’t,” Gigi whispered into his ear soothingly while breathing in the smell of Riccardo’s hair. “Now. But you’ll love it.”

“Stop fucking lying to him!” Andrea shouted. “Stop talking about it like it was the most wonderful thing on Earth!”

“Sorry, Andrea,” Gigi said calmly and pulled Riccardo into his lap as he wrapped his arms around him protectively. “But that you don’t like it doesn’t mean that he can’t. I do like it. The two morons, Claudio and Alessandro, liked it so much that they got kicked out of the council. Di Natale likes it. Sirigu liked it, well, before the hunters got him. Show me one single vampire other than you who doesn’t like it. Now.”

Andrea fell silent. Gigi laughed triumphantly.

“See? That you fell in love, and that you feel remorse for some accident that’s simply bound to happen at least once in your existence, that’s nobody’s fault. And now if you could finally shut up and get on the bed, you old sharp-teethed fart.”

Andrea sighed and climbed onto the bed. Riccardo instinctively tried to hide against Gigi, before remembering that it was like hiding from the rain in a swimming-pool. Andrea patted his back hesitantly.

“I promise it will be quick,” he said.

It didn’t sound like a good promise at all.

Something roused Riccardo from his negative thoughts that involved mainly Andrea’s teeth in his neck and whatever pain it would cause him, and he looked up at Gigi with awe.

“What… what the fuck are you doing?” he gasped, referring to his already unbuttoned shirt and Gigi’s hand in his pants.

Gigi rolled his eyes as if he asked him why the sky was blue.

“I’m trying to make it better, idiot!” he snapped. “Stop thinking about the stupid things you’re thinking about now… yes, I can see into your head, for your information… and finally relax!”

And he did. After all, there was nothing else he could do, and Gigi’s hand felt so good, and the fear was somehow subsiding.

“I could wait with it, but there’s something so  _special_  about humans…” Gigi mumbled and placed a kiss into Riccardo’s hair. “You’re so damn sweet, you know… So cute….”

Riccardo laid his head on Gigi’s shoulder as his breath was coming short, erratic, now not at all because of panic. He glanced over to Andrea.

“Kiss me!” Gigi demanded. “Don’t look at him! Kiss me!”

If it was the last thing he was about to do, he was going to do it properly. He pressed his lips hard against Gigi’s and squeezed his eyes shut.  
  
If there was pain, he felt very little of it. It was more like falling somewhere deep and he never reached the bottom. There was no bottom. There was nothing. Nothing at all.


	8. Eight

At first Riccardo thought he just had a major hangover. It felt exactly the same – every movement of his head, even the slightest, made him feel like he was in a boat on a stormy sea, and it hurt like hell.

If this was death, it sucked.

He opened his eyes slowly and turned his head to the side. The first thing he saw was Gigi grinning contentedly.

“Hello!” Gigi greeted him cheerfully. “How’s the death?”

“Am I going to feel like shit forever?” Riccardo asked and tried to rub his temples.

“Nah, just until you feed for the first time,” Gigi said. “Hungry already?”

Riccardo questioned his body and found out that he was indeed feeling a bit hungry. But not hungry like he wanted to have pasta or any normal food.

“I’m here to invite you for dinner!” Gigi said. “Andrea wouldn’t approve of this, though, so we have to sneak out without him knowing.”

“Where is he?” Riccardo asked.

“He was pretty high for a few hours, and now he’s probably scolding himself somewhere,” Gigi sighed. “No matter what he says, the artificial blood fucks your brain up, nobody can persuade me that it doesn’t!”

Riccardo got up from the bed and waited for his head to stop spinning.

“And… where are we going?” he asked, a bit worried.

He wasn’t entirely persuaded that he wanted to hunt down some people and suck their blood in a dark alley somewhere.

“There’s a place I like,” Gigi said. “You’ll see.”

***

Alberto stopped outside a bar, lit a cigarette and kicked a dustbin. The days of searching led nowhere. He had his suspects that first popped into his mind, but all turned out to be false traces. At first he suspected Maggio, the Neapolitan bastard whom he had been hunting down for almost three years and never got close enough to him to finish him off. But according to all Alberto’s spies, Maggio was in Naples and had no reason to go to Milan just to feed on Cesare’s friends. Then there was also Nocerino, but that one was too lazy to get into something that big. He preferred sucking the blood of lonely joggers in the park, or when he was too lazy, to steal some blood from a hospital. And of course, there was Balotelli, but nobody’s heard about him for years now.

Which, considering it was Balotelli, was really strange.

A group of English tourists passed Alberto and headed into the bar. It was mainly tourists here, as all the Italians knew that this bar was a bit infamous for the fact that people often disappeared from there. Which the police tried to explain with some Mafia meetings, but Alberto knew quite well that this had nothing to do with the Mafia.

This was a vampires’ nest.

And that was why Alberto was spending the nights here. If somebody knew or saw something, he would find them here. It wasn’t like he didn’t have his spies among vampires as well. Those bloodsuckers were usually loyal, but sometimes they preferred to become spies than to have a silver dagger in their heart.

But now, even Pazzini knew nothing, and Alberto knew he could rely on that one. It was strange. Really strange.

Spending the nights here was also better than spending the nights in Cesare’s house. Cesare was so angry that all the staff at the house was doing rock-paper-scissors to determine who would serve him dinner, because there were no volunteers. And Cristina seemed to be in a very fragile state… well, seemed, until she asked Alberto in a small voice if he thought the vampires had killed Riccardo. “It would be better if they did,” Alberto said. That was the end of Cristina’s fragility, as she started slapping him and hitting him with clenched fists while crying hysterically and calling him a “cynical bastard”.

It was definitely better to spend the nights (and days) outside.

 

**_Rome, February 1498_ **

_Andrea was out of breath when he reached his friend’s luxurious house. One of those servants Gianluigi kept mainly to have some food within reach whenever he had no time to go hunting, ushered him to Gianluigi’s private rooms._

_“Are you serious, Gianluigi?”_

_“Andrea! What are you worried about this time?” Gianluigi smiled._

_“Tell me it’s not true!” Andrea breathed. “You and Lucrezia Borgia…”_

_“Just an affair, my dear friend,” Gianluigi said calmly. “You know you’re the one I really love, do you?”_

_“But… God, Gianluigi, this is not why I am here! I’m not jealous! Do you realize who she is? It’s the Pope’s daughter!”_

_“I know. That’s why I’m sleeping with her. Why else would I be doing it?” Gianluigi grinned. “I think when it comes to looks and the art of love, she’s highly overrated.”_

_Andrea sighed and dropped down on the sofa._

_“So it’s been you all along,” he mumbled and ran his hand over his face._

_“Me?”_

_“Gianluigi, you know she’s about to get married to the Duke of Bisceglie?” Andrea asked. “She got divorced because allegedly her first marriage was never consumed, and now there are voices she secretly gave birth to a baby, so clearly…”_

_“Oh, are there_ voices _?” Gianluigi raised his brows. “Where did her carefulness go, then? I have to ask her.”_

_“Gianluigi! You know what her family could do…”_

_Gianluigi laughed heartily._

_“What could they do to me, Andrea?” he asked in a very amused voice. “Her wonderful brother Cesare already tried to put some poison in my wine. He was deeply disappointed that it didn’t work.”_

_Andrea looked at him incredulously._

_“Poor guy, that one who sold it to him… I heard that his death was not very pleasant.”_

_“And what about daggers, Gianluigi?” Andrea prompted quietly._

_“It would be a big coincidence if they managed to stab me through the heart and if the dagger was really made of pure silver,” Gianluigi smiled. “No, they are not like this. They always want to make it like an accident.”_

_He sat next to Andrea and caressed his cheek comfortingly._

_“This is not the most dangerous game that I’ve ever played, Andrea,” he whispered. “I’m doing it for us. Look at all this…”_

_Gianluigi’s hand made a nonchalant gesture like he was presenting Andrea the room._

_“And think of what more we could have. I could get you a nice little job once I get closer to the Pope. You know the popes always need a lot of paintings done. And for me… a nice little job somewhere I could really influence things. It’s worth a few nights with Lucrezia. The little half-vampire could complicate things a little bit, but it will be alright if nobody can confirm it.”_

_He leaned closer and brought his hands to Andrea’s neck. Before, Andrea was always secretly a little bit scared that Gianluigi would strangle him to death. Of course he never did, and now Andrea didn’t need to be worried anymore. Gianluigi ran his fingers over the place where his teeth once left a mark. It wasn’t visible anymore, but the mark Gianluigi left inside of Andrea was more than just a scar on his skin would be._

_“Don’t worry,” Gianluigi whispered. “I’ll keep us safe. I promised.”_

_***_

_The next morning Andrea woke up to an empty room. He got dressed quickly and made his way out of Gianluigi’s house, trying to avoid the servants’ disgusted looks._

_The air outside was crisp and he wrapped his coat around him closer, out of instinct, because he didn’t feel warm or cold anymore. He wouldn’t freeze to death even if he walked around Rome naked._

_There was a crowd of people close to the river bank that was growing bigger and bigger. Andrea was never fond of gossip or sensational news, because it often meant trouble. But he couldn’t entirely escape it, as people were exchanging the information on the street while passing him. Mostly they were whispering, but Andrea’s sensitive hearing which he owed to his vampire abilities made it easy for him to hear all they were saying._

_“They found them in the Tiber this morning,” a woman whispered to her friend. “Murdered.”_

_“Who were they?” her friend, a fat woman whom Andrea recognized as a baker’s wife, asked._

_“A servant and a maid,” the first woman said. “And they say they were in the service of…”_

_Andrea didn’t have to hear more, he didn’t want to hear more, but he didn’t manage to get far enough not to hear the name the woman whispered with a sacred terror._

_“Lucrezia Borgia.”_

 

**Milan, present day**

“It’s like flirting,” Gigi explained when they entered the bar. “Are you a good flirter?”

Riccardo shrugged.

“Not bad.”

The bar was full of people, mainly tourists, and they could hear all sorts of languages around.

“Tourists are the easiest targets, you know, the girls. They’re all over Italian boys,” Gigi said with a grin.

“How do I know which one to pick?”

Gigi laughed.

“You will know, don’t worry. Your instincts will help you. Use your smell, not eyes. They don’t have to be pretty. You know the rule. Suck it, chuck it,  _don’t_  fuck it.”

He pushed Riccardo towards the bar and found a quieter corner himself. He preferred to observe food for some time before deciding what to have.

“Gigi!” sounded next to his ear just as he spotted a cute Norwegian snack. He had a taste for Scandinavian food lately.

Gigi sighed and rolled his eyes, but kept his cheerful tone of voice.

“Hello, Andrea. Sober already?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Gigi shrugged and looked around like it wasn’t obvious.

“Taking a friend for dinner.”

“Gigi!”

“You can think whatever you want, Andrea, but you know that he  _has_  to drink, at least for the first time. He can’t just have a  _carpaccio_.”

Gigi looked at Riccardo and the group of blondes gathered around him, giggling and sipping on the countless  _bellinis_.

“Gosh,” Gigi sighed. “And in the end he has a taste for Germans.”


	9. Nine

Every vampires’ nest had to have a hideout. That was the rule. This bar had a place the regular customers nicknamed the “make-out place”, and Gigi called it “dining room”.

The girl was actually quite pretty, but she was the Claudia Schiffer type – blonde hair with bangs, blue eyes and pale skin. So not Riccardo’s type at all.

But that didn’t matter because her blood tasted  _so_  good. It felt better than anything he’s ever felt. All the energy coming into him, the warmth and satisfaction, the immense pleasure.

He had to take a breath, even though he wanted to drink all the blood at once. His body was screaming for it. The girl let out a quiet whimper when he pulled his teeth out of her neck.

“Shhh,” Riccardo whispered and put his hand over her mouth. “I’ve been through this. It gets better, I promise.”

He could sense her fear, he could almost taste it, but he couldn’t care less. He sank his teeth back in the wound. Suddenly the door flew open.

“So here you are!” Andrea looked half relieved, half frightened by the scene in front of him.

“It’s not polite to eat before your friends even order!” Gigi scolded Riccardo, smacking him over the head teasingly. “But I’ll forgive you, it’s your first time. Well, good work, boy. Didn’t even need guidance, huh?”

The girl was now drifting in and out of consciousness, her skin was almost white and cold to the touch. Riccardo looked at her and backed up. Gigi clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“Did your mother not teach you to finish your meals?” he asked.

“Gigi…” Andrea started, but Gigi waved him off.

“Come on, this is not how you do it, naughty boy. You don’t leave anything on the plate.”

Riccardo shook his head as everything finally dawned on him. Gigi grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back.

“Finish her!”

“I can’t!”

“Yes, you can! You have to. Because otherwise, she’ll be dying here for quite some time, and it won’t be very pleasant. Which is quite…  _inhuman_ , as they say. That’s the better version. The worse version is that someone will find her in time, and she will be running around Milan, telling everyone that the vampires came back. So?”

Andrea took a step towards them.

“Gigi, I can do it if…”

“Oh, look at that, I thought you weren’t drinking human blood, and now you’re after leftovers? Does that help your conscience, Andrea?” Gigi laughed. “No. He will do it. Because he has to  _learn_  it. Because you and I both know that he’s not joining your diet. Doesn’t seem like it, eh?”

Andrea shook his head and banged the door behind him. Gigi folded his arms.

“We are what we are, yeah? So come on. Just a few more drops.”

***

“Have you tried all of them?” Cesare asked when Alberto dropped down on the sofa.

“All I could think of. Maggio is in Naples, Nocerino wouldn’t do such thing, Balotelli is missing.”

“So it could be him?”

“Cesare…” Alberto sighed. “If Balotelli was back, how long do you think it would take before everyone knew? Five minutes?”

Cesare nodded thoughtfully. Last time he heard about Balotelli, some of the religious groups were using his actions as proof that the end of the world was near.

“Anyone else?”

“I asked Pazzini, and he knew nothing about other vampires in Milan, except of those who drink the artificial thing.”

“Yes, I know, Pirlo, De Rossi and that group,” Cesare said and then banged his fist into the table. “It doesn’t make sense!”

“How do you know he’s telling the truth?” Cristina’s voice sounded from the doorstep.

“Who?” Alberto frowned.

“That vampire you got the information from. Why would he tell you the truth, you’re their enemy.”

“Because I did him a little favor,” Alberto said.

“Whatever,” Cristina shrugged. “If he lied, would you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if there’s someone he’s afraid of more than he’s afraid of you?”

Cesare and Alberto exchanged looks.

“Is there anyone that the other vampires would be afraid of?” Cristina asked.

“The vampires of the Council,” Alberto said. “But they are responsible for the fact that the other vampires behave. None of them are… oh, damn.”

Cesare and Cristina both looked at him.

“If it’s true what I’m thinking…” Alberto said.

“What are you thinking?” Cesare asked.

Alberto looked up and met his gaze.

“Buffon.”

***

“You think I’m disgusting.”

Andrea looked at Riccardo from the kitchen table and shook his head.

“I don’t think you’re disgusting,” he said calmly. “You did what was natural for you to do. Nobody can blame you.”

“You haven’t spoken to me since we got back,” Riccardo shrugged and sat at the table opposite to Andrea.

“It’s all really tough for me, you know?” Andrea sighed. “First I meet Gigi, after all these years, and then he sends you, and now it’s all about…”

“Drinking blood.”

Andrea nodded and sipped at his drink.

“It took me a lot of time to get used to this completely. To stop craving the human blood. With you it came back, and now that I see it all around, smell it… it’s twice as hard.”

Riccardo nodded and looked at him.

“Andrea… Why did you even stop?”

“You mean why I don’t drink human blood anymore?”

“Yes… I remember Gigi saying something about you falling in love and an accident, but…”

Andrea sighed, got up and refilled his cup.

“Well, it’s true. Before the Second World War, I fell in love, with a woman. A human. Eventually she found out about what I was, she didn’t care. We moved in together and for the first time in centuries, I lived something that resembled normal life. You know, going to bed when people go to bed, being up during the day… I still had to feed, but when the war came it wasn’t that hard to cover up for my acts. Well, and one morning I woke up and she was… dead.”

Riccardo’s eyes got wide.

“You mean that you…”

“Yeah.”

“But… why would you do it? I mean, you said you were together for  _years_!”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember doing it. I just know that when I woke up, I panicked, I ran over to Gigi and told him what happened. He helped me to cover up for it, and then I moved here, and I met Daniele who invented the artificial stuff. Since then I haven’t been drinking human blood. And since then Gigi is angry with me.”

Riccardo frowned and looked at him.

“It’s strange.”

“What is strange?”

“That you don’t remember doing it. I do remember what I did. And I think you normally do remember it, don’t you?”

Andrea nodded.

“If you loved her, and you don’t remember doing it, and as you said it wasn’t hard for you to feed elsewhere at that time…” Riccardo said and gnawed at his lower lip. “I mean… are you sure it was really you who did it?”

Andrea dropped the cup and the red liquid splashed onto the table.

“What do you mean?” he whispered.

“Would it be possible for someone else to come into your house and kill her?” Riccardo asked. “And do you know about anyone who would do that?”  
  
Andrea gasped and covered his face with his hands. Then, before Riccardo could even blink, he was gone.

 


	10. Ten

Alberto entered a tiny, dirty bar in one of the back alleys. They served only two drinks and he knew that when the usual vampires’ nest was closed, he’d find his snitches here.

“Human Bloody Mary?” the barman asked him immediately.

“No, thanks, Criscito!” Alberto groaned. “After the last time when you accidentally served me the vampire version, I don’t feel like having anything red.”

He headed to the corner where a vampire was sitting, hunched over his Vampire Bloody Mary.

“Pazzini!” Alberto called. “Come here, you fucker, we need to talk!”

“What about?” Pazzini asked suspiciously. “I told you everything I knew.”

“Don’t think so!” Alberto snapped and pulled him out of the bar.

The street was empty, apart from two girls who were hanging around at the corner. Alberto shook his head and sighed.

“That we have prostitution, I already got used to. But blood prostitution…”

“It’s a good business!” Pazzini shrugged. “Sometimes you rather pay for a dose, it’s easier than hunting food down.”

“Fine, that’s not what I want to hear, even though Prandelli will hear about it. You know what I want.”

“I told you, I know nothing more!”

“No? So you told me about all the vampires in Milan, right?”

“Didn’t I?”

“And what about Buffon?”

For a moment, Pazzini looked like Alberto just smashed him over the head with something. Then he put on his usual innocent face.

“He’s in Turin,” he lied.

“He’s not, and you know it. So better tell me what you know. Or…”

Pazzini looked at the silver dagger in Alberto’s hand and gulped. Either way, he was screwed.

 

**_Milan, 1963_ **

_Mario threw another cigarette on the ground. There was already a big pile of cigarette ends at his feet, which suggested that he had been already waiting there for a long time. He didn’t even know why he didn’t quit smoking when he became a vampire, because blood was definitely better than tobacco, but truth was that if he drank blood in public, it would cause him way more trouble than cigarettes._

_He rolled his eyes when the man he was waiting for finally appeared, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, bell-bottom pants, a scarf around his head and several necklaces and bracelets._

_“Aren’t you exaggerating a little bit with the ‘always fit-in’ policy, Motta?” Mario growled._

_“Shut up!” Thiago Motta said and made a peace sign. “You’re back, then?”_

_“Just for a while. How are things?”_

_“Yeah, good, last night I had a good party with…”_

_“My things, you idiot!” Mario snapped._

_“Oh… Well, I don’t think anyone suspects you. They’re glad that you’re gone, that’s all.”_

_“Sure,” Mario smirked and lit another cigarette. “Since Maldini is in charge of the council, there’s no fun in the whole Europe. It’s even worse than it was under Mourinho, and when I imagine who will follow…”_

_“The new head of the council will be elected in more than fifty years, no need to panic now, Mario!” Thiago laughed and showed a few more peace signs to random people who were passing them by._

_“Stop acting like your head is full of ganja smoke!” Mario shouted at him. “Even though it probably is. I’m telling you that this shit we’re living in is insupportable! It pisses me off!”_

_“What do you want to do about it?” Thiago shrugged._

_“Overthrow the council!” Mario said triumphantly. “And I’ll find the way how to do it. I just need time.”_

_“And you’re going to do that here? Under Maldini’s nose?”_

_“Of course not, that’s why I’m going back to England soon,” Mario snorted. “I just need you to cover up my tracks, alright? Spread a few false rumors, like that I’m in America, that I went to Vietnam or something…”_

_Thiago giggled at the image of Mario in the US uniform going to war in Vietnam, but then nodded._

_“Also… find people who would be up for it. The rebels. What about Buffon?”_

_“Eh… we’re not exactly friends now…” Thiago said. “And I don’t know if you got the news, but De Rossi now has his own gang and they don’t drink human blood. There are Pirlo, Quagliarella, Diamanti and a few others…”_

_“Stupid fuckers!” Mario snorted. “Well, find those who are fed up with all the Maldini’s rules. I’ll keep in touch. And now go listen to the newest Beatles or what is that you shitheads are into.”_

_Thiago showed Mario a peace sign and disappeared. Mario threw another cigarette on the ground._

_“Hey!” a voice behind him said._

_He turned around and stared at an angry policeman._

_“What is that supposed to mean? Who will clean the sidewalks, eh?” the policeman said and reached for his fine forms. “This will be a fine!”_

_Mario looked at the paper and smirked, then pulled out a stack of banknotes and handed them to the policeman._

_“I pay also for dinner!” he said and sunk his teeth in the man’s neck._     

 

**Milan, present day**

“Damn, Andrea, calm down already!” Gigi shouted. “What came over you?”

“It makes sense, Gigi!”

“Well, fine, I’m glad you finally stopped accusing yourself, but you came up with something even crazier!”

He got up and took Andrea by the shoulders.

“I did not kill your wife, Andrea!” he said quietly. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. When are there exactly reasons behind whatever you do, Gigi?” Andrea said a bit more calmly.

“Always!” Gigi replied, sounding slightly offended. “Fine, Andrea, so you didn’t kill Deborah. Someone else did. I don’t know how you came to this after almost seventy years, but…”

“It wasn’t really me,” Andrea said. “Riccardo did.”

“Oh, so he’s not just pretty and tasty, but also smart…” Gigi smirked. “Sounds like your type.”

“Fuck you, Gigi, don’t start turning this into one of your comedies!” Andrea yelled. “If you didn’t do it, then who?”

“And how the hell am I supposed to know? It’s been seventy years. I don’t know who you want to ask. Your human neighbors, even if they saw someone – which isn’t very likely if it was a vampire – are dead for about half a century. Even the vampire who did it can be already dead.”  

“He will be dead, when I find him!” Andrea said.

“I’m sure of that,” Gigi chuckled and fell onto the sofa contentedly. “Oh, thank God! My old Andrea is back!”

***

Pazzini looked around the hall of Andrea’s house and sighed. He didn’t find Gigi in his house and Claudio and Alessandro told him he might be there. But it didn’t seem like anybody was home.

“Hey!” a voice sounded from the kitchen door. “What are you doing here?”

“Um… I’m looking for Gigi… Claudio and Alessandro told me he might be here…” Pazzini said and looked at the man.

“Well, he’s not.”

Pazzini shrugged and turned around. Then it hit him. He turned back briskly.

“Wait… Aren’t you that human Gilardino is looking for?”

“If it concerns Gilardino, it’s probably me,” Riccardo laughed. “But I’m probably as human as you are.”  
  
“Damn,” Pazzini gasped and sat on the sofa. “I’m dead.”

 


	11. Eleven

“Wait, so Gila told you to do what?” Riccardo asked Pazzini when the vampire stopped lamenting about being  _totally dead,_ which actually caused Riccardo to giggle involuntarily.

There was just something really amusing about this vampire.

“He didn’t tell me to do anything, but… he found out about Gigi, that he’s here and not in Turin. And he figured he was the one who… you know. He would kill me if I didn’t tell him where Gigi was, but then Gigi would kill me if I did. I thought I might just… get you of here, then disappear. Gilardino would leave me alone and maybe he’d get Gigi before he’d get me. But…”

“Too late,” Riccardo sighed.

“Yeah. Now either Gigi will kill me because I told Gilardino, or Gilardino will kill me because you’re a vampire.”

“You know what… I wouldn’t tell Gila if I were you,” Riccardo said. “If you tell him, he will kill you, that’s right. And I don’t want him to find out like that.”

The door opened suddenly and Andrea and Gigi walked in. Gigi stopped and frowned.

“Pazzini?”

Pazzini jumped up immediately.

“Don’t kill me, Gigi!” he pleaded.

“Kill you? What did you do this time?” Gigi asked. “You were hanging around with Gilardino again, weren’t you?”

“I swear I didn’t tell him anything, he knew…”

“He knew what?”

“That you were in Milan. And that you were responsible for…”

Riccardo sighed and got up.

“For my disappearance,” he finished. “Listen, I know Gilardino, and he had no choice than to tell him, because Gila never thinks for too long before pulling out the dagger.”

Gigi ignored him completely, grabbing the front of Pazzini’s shirt.

“I thought the two idiots who work for me were the biggest morons ever, but you’re worse!” he growled. “Next time I see someone from the council, I will ask them to take them back and kick you out instead. And now get the fuck out of here, and talk with Gilardino about someone else than me. I love publicity, but not when it involves hunters!”

Pazzini muttered something and disappeared. Gigi sighed deeply and looked at Riccardo.

“Dinner?” he asked.

Riccardo grinned.

“With pleasure.”

Gigi flashed a winning smile at Andrea who was looking at them disapprovingly.

“Fine, we’re off. Are you joining us, Andrea?”

“No, thanks!” Andrea said and pulled a jar of artificial blood out of the fridge.

“ _Bon appétit_ , then!” Gigi made a face. “At least warm it up, you’ll be sick if you drink it cold.”

“Since when are you so concerned about my health, Gigi?” Andrea asked.

Gigi rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm around Riccardo’s waist.

“Let’s go. I heard there will be some Chinese food on the menu tonight.”

***

“So?” Cesare asked as soon as Alberto walked in.

“I’m pretty positive it’s Buffon,” Alberto said. “Pazzini was trying to act like he didn’t know what I was talking about, but he looked like I punched him when I asked him about Buffon.”

“Well, then you should find him!” Cristina said.

“Even if I did, Buffon won’t let me come close enough. He knows me. All the vampires know me.”

“And you still get to kill them, so what’s different here?”

“Many things. First, it’s Buffon, not just some dumb vampire. And then, I don’t want to kill him immediately. I need him to tell me what he knows, which is… impossible.”

Cristina took a breath, but it was Cesare who spoke first.

“I’m not paying you for telling me what is and isn’t possible. Make it possible, in your own interest, Gilardino!” he said. “Or I’ll suck your blood myself!”

***

“There has always been one major problem between me and Andrea,” Gigi said while observing people in the bar.

“And that is?” Riccardo asked.

“We have the same taste,” Gigi smirked. “And I usually win.”

Riccardo laughed shortly.

“You haven’t won me over, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Gigi frowned. “You’re hard to figure out. You let everyone get a taste of you and then leave them dying for more. You’re either terribly cruel or terribly messed up, Riccardo.”

“There are people who got more of me,” Riccardo objected like he wanted to defend himself.

“Like Gilardino?”

Riccardo blinked in surprise, but swallowed the questions. Gigi simply knew things, and it was a fact.

“Yeah. Like Gilardino.”

“You do realize that it’s over, don’t you?” Gigi asked quietly. “It has to be.”

“Because you say so?”

Gigi rolled his eyes.

“No, you dumbass. Because Gilardino kills vampires, he doesn’t fuck them.”

“He wouldn’t kill me.”

“No, he wouldn’t kill that Riccardo whose heart was beating, whom he used to know,” Gigi said calmly. “But that one’s dead, sweetheart. You’re not that person anymore, even though some of the traits remained. Unfortunately mostly the annoying ones.”

Riccardo kept just staring at him, unable to speak a word. Gigi looked around and clicked his tongue at the group of Chinese tourist who just entered the bar. Then he looked back at Riccardo like they had been just having a chit chat.

“Chose already?”

 

**_Milan, 2010_ **

_Alberto walked out of the bathroom and glanced over at Riccardo, who was looking at him with the smile that appeared on his lips only in moments like this, when he had just let Alberto tame him, dominate him, control him. It was the smile that was meant to say that it wasn’t but a game, that in reality it was impossible to control him and that taming him would take much more than that. Alberto knew even without that smile, but it was a good reminder nevertheless._

_He frowned at the sight of one of his daggers that Riccardo was playing with absent-mindedly._

_“Put it down!” Alberto said._

_Riccardo gave him one of the spoiled teenager looks that he was supposed to get rid of years ago when he was actually still a teen, but he never did._

_“Why?”_

_“You’re dangerous even in your sleep. Seeing you holding a sharp object worries me.”_

_Riccardo laughed and crawled away from Alberto’s reach when he tried to take the dagger away from him._

_“You’re at your insupportable best tonight, aren’t you?” Alberto sighed._

_“I spent two fucking weeks in Cesare’s prison. One more day and I would explode. I couldn’t even go to the fridge to get a damn can of Coke unless I had either him or one of his guards behind my back.”_

_“He was just worried,” Alberto tried to reason with him. “A few of those bastards are having a bloodsucking tour over the whole Italy.”_

_“Fine, but there are millions of people in Italy, who just wander around the streets and go to the clubs and just don’t give a damn. Why should any vampires want to suck my blood out of all? There’s no reason, and Cesare is just paranoid! I’d rather party with the vampires than sit there like a kid who’s grounded. And you just disappeared and left me there!”_

_“Let go of that damn dagger and I’ll make it up to you,” Alberto smiled._

_Riccardo frowned as he considered the offer. Then he smirked._

_“Try it, and maybe I’ll let go of it eventually.”_

_Alberto sighed and climbed onto the bed. He could tell immediately that the two weeks during which Riccardo couldn’t venture his anger at nobody else but Cesare, which was like shooting from an air gun at metal door, had more serious consequences than he had expected. None of his usual tricks worked this time. He’d normally already have Riccardo trembling, clinging to him, whining for more. Now he was just looking at Alberto with a cold gaze and if any of Alberto’s actions were working, he did a great job denying it._

_“Oh, come on,” Alberto finally lost his patience. “Don’t you think you’ve already punished me enough? Fine, I’m sorry for leaving, but I had to...”_

_“Shut up.”_

_Alberto’s breath hitched when the tip of the dagger dug in between his shoulder blades. Riccardo flipped him over and hovered above him with a slight, unfamiliar smile._

_“Say hello to my other side,” he whispered._

_Alberto wasn’t even surprised. He had the feeling that this side was there all along, he was just waiting for it to show up._

_“Which one is the real one?” he asked._

_“I don’t even know anymore. I’m not sure if I ever knew.”_

_Alberto was sure that every reasonable person would be already out of the door, and that every reasonable person even without any psychology education would tell him that this boy had some serious mental issues the people around him – including Alberto – were trying to ignore._

_“Do I scare you?” Riccardo asked._

_“Sometimes you do. And you don’t need a dagger to scare me.”_

_“What scares you, then?”_

_“What you have inside. And the scariest thing is that I don’t know what it actually is. Even you don’t know.”_

_Riccardo put the dagger down and lay down next to Alberto._

_“I couldn’t hurt you, Gila,” he said quietly._

_And it would be enough for Alberto to calm down again, if Riccardo didn’t add the hesitant “I think.”_

 

**Milan, present day**

They were sitting in Andrea’s library. Andrea was actually trying to read there, but when Gigi and Riccardo came back, full of energy and slightly drunk, he gave up because they wouldn’t leave him alone.

“How do you do that thing with moving things?” Riccardo asked.

“Haven’t tried it already?” Gigi smiled.

“I don’t know how.”

“It’s the power of will,” Andrea explained. “You have to focus on that thing.”

“Let’s get Andrea’s favorite Marco Polo down from there!” Gigi said and in a moment the book simply flew out of the shelf right into Gigi’s hand. “For some reason he likes to read this, but when he has to travel, it always takes him weeks to prepare to move his ass.”

Andrea frowned, took the book from Gigi and held it to his chest protectively.

“It’s a manuscript from the thirteenth century, you ignorant, treat it with respect!”

Gigi snorted in a way which suggested that he would calmly set his coffee mug on it, and looked towards the shelf again.

“Try to move that Dante crap over there a little bit, Riccardo!” he said. “Just focus and…”

Riccardo looked at the shelf. The book fell out and then the whole shelf collapsed and books flew all around the room.

“Wow, boy, take it slow!” Gigi said, staring at him incredulously.

“Is that… normal?” Riccardo asked in a small voice.

“Yeah,” Gigi said. “Apart from the fact that it took Andrea five months until he was able to move a feather, it’s normal.”

He looked at Andrea who was trying his best not to look completely terrified.

“You know what, go get some fresh air,” Gigi said to Riccardo. “Don’t set anything on fire as you go.”

Once the door clacked behind him, Gigi turned to Andrea. The silence between them was heavy.  
  
“God, Gigi,” Andrea whispered then. “What have we done?”

 


	12. Twelve

“I should have never listened to you!” Andrea growled when they were heading to the Vampire Council seat. “When you turn a human, there’s always trouble!”

Gigi looked at him with the most innocent face he was capable of.

“Wait, when was there trouble?”

“Torres!” Andrea snapped.

“Oh, come on, it’s still the same… He looked like he couldn’t count to three, how could I have known that he’d turn into a monster?” Gigi whined. “It’s the problem of the Spaniards, anyways. That Casillas can’t stop him is not my fault!”

“But this  _is_  our problem, Gigi, and we’ll have a bigger problem on our hands when Maldini finds out it was us who turned him!”

“We could talk to Del Piero before we talk to Maldini!” Gigi suggested. “He saved my ass last time, you know, when Maldini wanted to kick me out of the council for organizing the big dinner…”

“You mean bringing sixty vampires to a football match,” Andrea corrected him.

“Come on, it was fun. Maldini was only mad because I told them to feed on Milan fans, not the Juventus ones.”

They reached the Duomo and Andrea quickly pulled Gigi away from the group of some French students, who were lined up at the entrance.

“Andrea!” Gigi whined, still trying to get to a girl who was busy reading the Milan city guide. “I didn’t have breakfast, allow me just a little croissant!”

“Are you fucking mad?” Andrea hissed. “Maldini is probably going to kill us and you’re thinking about food?”

Gigi shrugged. Andrea rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, like you ever think about anything else.”

***

The main seat of the Vampire Council was under the Duomo. Gigi and Andrea followed one guide, pretending they were just normal tourists, while the guide pretended he was just a normal guide, not someone who actually remembered the times when the Duomo wasn’t yet there. 

Another vampire was waiting for them downstairs, looking serious.

“What is it about, Morgan?” he asked.

“They’re here to see  _Signor_  Del Piero,” the guide announced.

“ _Signor_  Del Piero is busy,” the vampire said.

Andrea was going to explain something to him, but Gigi was faster. If there was something he really hated, it was being ignored.

“I am busy too, Barzagli!” he groaned and grabbed the vampire’s shirt. “Too busy to deal with rubbish like you. You will go and tell Del Piero that Gigi Buffon is here to see him, or you’ll regret it for eternity! Understood?”

The vampire made a muffled sound, readjusted his attire and disappeared somewhere in the back.

“Annoying fucker, last time I saw him he was cleaning Del Piero’s shoes!” Gigi said.

Barzagli appeared again in a few minutes.

“ _Signor_  Del Piero is waiting for you in the Great Hall,” he said.

“Fine!” Gigi said and rolled his eyes at Andrea, who mumbled a polite “thank you”.

They continued to the Great Hall, where one of the privileged vampires was waiting for them. Gigi put on his innocent face again.

“Alessandro!” he said cheerfully.

“Please, stop this!” the vampire sighed. “I can tell you fucked something up again. So what is it?”

Gigi explained the situation to him briefly, shooting warning glances at Andrea whose version of the story was apparently quite different.

“How stupid are you two?” Alessandro asked. “Ever heard of the no-turning policy?”

“I thought that we abolished it!” Gigi frowned.

“We renewed it fifty years ago. You’d know that if you bothered to come to the council meetings every once in a while.”

Gigi could think of a million things that were better than sitting at the endless council meetings, but he decided against telling Alessandro as they were already screwed.

“Well, Alessandro… It was my idea. Andrea turned him, but it was my fault.”

“Andrea?” Alessandro raised his eyebrows. “I thought you…”

“I’m not back to drinking human blood!” Andrea snapped. “It was out of necessity. The boy is Prandelli’s protégé. Gigi had this wonderful idea that if we turned him, Prandelli wouldn’t kill us. Now when I say it, I don’t even see the logic in that.”

“I would be glad if you changed your mind. You’re really missed in the council,” Alessandro said. “On the other hand…”

He was interrupted by a tall vampire walking in.

“Alessandro?” the vampire asked.

Alessandro bowed to him.

“ _Signore_  Maldini, I…” he mumbled.

The vampire scanned the hall and his eyes landed on Gigi who was a bit pathetically trying to hide behind Alessandro’s back.

“Gianluigi Buffon!” he sighed. “Here we go again! So what trouble do we have here this time?”

***

Alberto looked at his watch and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. He had been waiting there for almost an hour. Finally, with a lot of fussing and looking around, Pazzini appeared and pulled Alberto into the shadows.

“What is this comedy supposed to mean now?” Alberto groaned when Pazzini went to check the corner of the street, just to be sure there was nobody listening.

“Buffon knows that you know he’s here!” Pazzini said. “If he sent one of his people after me…”

“Come on, nobody’s interested in little rats like you!” Alberto rolled his eyes. “So? You promised you had something big to tell me.”

“Yes… eh, you know what year it is?”

Alberto looked at him in disbelief.

“Are you mad? Of course I know what year it is!”

“Well, and you know what’s going on this year?”

“What’s going… wait!” Alberto yelled and Pazzini almost jumped up. “Is it the year when…”

“The year of the elections for the President of the Vampire Council!” Pazzini confirmed. “Maldini’s mandate is over. There will be all the vampires from the whole Europe for the elections.”

“And?” Alberto raised his eyebrows.

“It’s simple!” Pazzini said, almost glowing with some strange relief. “That’s why Buffon is here. He’s in the council. It has nothing to do with Prandelli.”

“And you just remembered that now?” Alberto frowned.

“Well, I just forgot, you know, there are elections all the time…”

“Every two hundred and fifty years.”

“Yeah, well, I said, all the time.”

Alberto looked at him suspiciously.

“If you’re lying to me…” he warned him.

“I wouldn’t dare!” Pazzini said quickly.

“Fine. Where are the elections taking place?”

Pazzini looked like he’s just seen a monster.

“You cannot be serious!” he breathed. “You can’t just walk on a hundred of the most prestigious vampires!”

“Fine, then tell me where Buffon lives.”

Pazzini whined desperately.

“I told you, he has nothing to do with…”

“Nothing to do with the tourists who disappeared over the last week?”

“Well, maybe… maybe he’s not alone in that.”

“Is that right?” Alberto asked curiously.

Pazzini smashed his head into the wall so hard that some of the stucco fell down.

“I shouldn’t have said that!”

“Luckily this won’t make you more stupid,” Alberto noted. “Now, you can either tell me where the meeting is taking place, or you can tell me where Buffon lives.”

“You’re not going to just burst in there and say ‘Pazzini told me where you live’, are you?”

“You know that it’s not my style.”

Pazzini groaned, mumbled Gigi’s address and disappeared. Alberto sighed and entered the bar at the corner.

“Bloody Mary. The  _human_  version, Criscito, I warn you!”

Outside the bar, something rustled behind the dustbins. Cristina stuck the paper with noted address in her handbag, checked her clothes and quickly turned the corner before Alberto could finish his drink.

***

“So you just forgot about the non-turning policy and turned a human, right?” Maldini asked.

They were sitting in the huge room where the council usually had their meetings.

“Yes,” Andrea said quietly.

“Alright. And now you’re trying to tell me that he learns unusually fast. A regular human who just became a vampire can move things.”

“I swear, he practically destroyed a bookshelf and set a curtain on fire!” Gigi said. “It scared the shit out of me!”

Maldini gave him a skeptical look.

“I won’t believe it until I see it. Bring him here. And don’t turn anyone else in the meanwhile. Unless they’d be willing to vote for me in the elections.”

Andrea gave him a questioning look.

“That was a joke!” Maldini said, somehow deceived. “Nobody’s ever been re-elected. I don’t think you guys love me so much to make me the first one.”

“If it’s you against Lloris in the final round, I might vote for you,” Gigi said. “If he were the President, we’d die of boredom.”

Maldini looked at him and sighed.  
  
“With you here? Never.”

 


	13. Thirteen

“I’m not sure if it was a good idea, going to Maldini!” Andrea said. 

Gigi, who was rummaging in his fridge, trying to find some leftover jar of blood, stopped and looked at him.

“Excuse me?” he said. “It was you who suggested it in the first place!” 

“I know but… now I’m not sure about bringing the boy to Maldini.”

“You like him!” Gigi laughed.

“What?” Andrea yelled. “You’re the one obsessed with him!”

“You know I’ve never been obsessed with anyone else but you,” Gigi said calmly. “Yes, I like him. He’s a good companion, mainly for dinners, since you’re back to your tomato juice. He’s smart and pretty. A bit psycho, but who isn’t?”

Gigi closed the fridge and kicked it when he didn’t find anything to eat. He was hungry, but the encounter with Maldini completely spoiled his mood and he didn’t feel like going outside and doing that stupid chit-chat with food. It was one of the times when he regretted there was nothing like blood delivery service. What was the difference between blood and pizza, anyways? He had to think about it, it sounded like a good business. He was sure the lazy asses like Nocerino would pay insane money if they didn’t have to move from their chairs to get food.

“If you want to come over, I might give you some of my…” Andrea started.

Gigi made a disgusted face.

“Once was enough, thanks.”

“Come over anyways.”

Gigi raised his eyebrows. It didn’t sound like the Andrea he used to know from the last decades. Apparently, even though his plan didn’t work like he wanted it to, it worked in its own way.

“Fine,” he said.

***

When they entered Andrea’s house, they stopped at the doorstep and looked on in disbelief. There was loud music playing in the hall, and two girls Gigi recognized as the blood prostitutes from Criscito’s bar were lying lazily on the sofa, one of them laughing at Riccardo’s teasing nibbles on her neck.  

“What the hell is going on in here?” Andrea shouted.

Riccardo looked up calmly and grinned.

“Hi! Just a little party.”

“You have food!” Gigi exclaimed.

Riccardo smiled almost proudly.

“Wanna share?”

“You bet, I’m hungry as hell!” Gigi said.

He turned to Andrea who was staring at them, looking shocked.

“Well, you either join us or go get your yummy veggie juice!” Gigi said.

“This is my house!” Andrea objected. “It’s not a place for this… obscene… disgusting… Pazzini?”

Pazzini, who was just going down the stairs with a girl leaning over his shoulder, froze.

“Eh, we just…” he said.

He turned to Riccardo who was calmly changing the music.

“Didn’t you say he wouldn’t come back soon?” he hissed.

“Nah, who cares?” Riccardo shrugged. “Gigi, the food on the left should be still fresh!”

“Thanks!” Gigi grinned and sat down on the sofa

“You’re disgusting. Both of you!” Andrea said and went to the kitchen.

“Well…” Gigi sighed when the door banged. “And I thought he was starting to be more fun.”

 

**_Milan, 1984_ **

_Mario Balotelli looked at the people around him and felt a strong urge to blow the whole place up. When he asked Thiago Motta to find a place where they could blend in, discuss their matters and possibly feed, he surely didn’t mean a Ricchi e Poveri concert._

_Thiago, on the other hand, looked like he was really enjoying it, in his bright pink shirt and silver pants._

_“So did you convince anyone?” Mario shouted at Thiago._

_Thiago turned to him._

_“What?” he shouted back._

_“I asked if you convinced anyone to support me against Maldini!”_

_“What?”_

_Mario rolled his eyes, grabbed Thiago and not paying attention to his protests, dragged him outside. He lit a cigarette and leaned over a rail._

_“The election is going down soon. I’m glad you stopped smoking ganja and doing peace signs every two seconds, but now move your silver-covered ass before it’s too late!”_

_“There will be other candidates, not just Maldini. How do you want me to persuade people to vote for you and not Gerrard, for example?”_

_Mario made a face._

_“Gerrard!” he spat out. “We would have to pay taxes for drinking blood if he had the power. We can as well have Carragher back, that was about the same.”_

_“But what can I do?” Thiago sighed. “I tried to persuade a few people, but when I mentioned you, they were really disappointed you weren’t already dead.”_

_“Well, then stop with persuading!” Mario said._

_Thiago looked like a big stone just fell off his heart._

_“Fine, so can we go back now?” he asked with a hopeful expression._

_“I’m not done talking!” Mario snapped. “Stop with persuading. Start with threatening.”_

 

**Milan, present day**

“So I’m disgusting, eh?”

Andrea jumped up when Riccardo banged the kitchen door behind him.

“Can I remind you that because of you and whatever is going on between you and Gigi, I ended up here? Can I remind you that it was you who turned me, after assuring me about a thousand times that you wouldn’t? And when I finally accept who I am, you call me disgusting?" 

“Riccardo…” Andrea sighed.

“No, you are disgusting, Andrea, with your false morality. In fact you’re worse than Gigi. He at least doesn’t pretend that he cares!”

“But I…” Andrea objected, but then dropped back on the chair.

“I thought so,” Riccardo snorted and headed to the door.

“Where are you going?” Andrea asked quietly.

“That’s not your fucking problem.”

Andrea wanted to think of something reasonable to say, but before he even opened his mouth, Riccardo was already gone.

***

“The elections are going down this year?” Cesare asked. “Are you sure?”

“Pazzini said it to me. I suppose it was an excuse for Buffon coming back, but still, I think he was saying the truth,” Alberto said. “All the vampires in Milan, it will be crazy.”

“Alright. Get the other hunters, we need to make a plan!” Cesare said.

“All the hunters?” Alberto raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, all of them. Bonucci included. This is emergency, even losers like him can be useful.”

Alberto nodded and headed to the door. Then he stopped and turned around.

“You don’t want to make this a suicide mission, do you?"

Cesare looked at him with tired eyes.

“I’ll leave them alone as long as they behave,” he said

“I’m not sure you can order Mourinho and his people to behave,” Alberto chuckled. “Not everyone is a vampire saint like Casillas.”

“That’s why we need to let Maldini know it’s his responsibility.”

Alberto nodded and walked out. He didn’t like what was going on. It was all too strange. But now he had a few phone calls to make.

***

Riccardo hid in the shadows as soon as he saw the door open and Alberto walk out of Cesare’s house. He watched him going to his car and for a moment he wanted to stop hiding and just walk up to him like nothing ever happened. He even made the first step, but then Gigi’s words sounded in his mind.  _Gilardino kills vampires, he doesn’t fuck them._

He backed up right in the second when Alberto looked around cautiously. He would swear he saw Alberto frown for a second, like he always did when he thought that he’d seen something, but wasn’t sure if it was real. Riccardo almost wished Alberto would close the door again and go to see what it was. He promised himself that if Alberto would do it, he wouldn’t move from his spot. He would just wait and let it happen.

Alberto hesitated for a second, but then he shook his head, got in the car and drove away.

He knew it was nonsense, but Riccardo had never felt so heartbroken before.

***

Gigi blinked in surprise when Riccardo walked into his living room. It wasn’t because it was too late, too late meant around noon for Gigi, certainly not around 3 am. What surprised him was that Riccardo looked like he was right before a mental breakdown.  _Vampires can’t have mental breakdowns,_  Gigi reminded himself.  _Crying is fine, but not mental breakdowns._  What was even more worrying, though, Riccardo didn’t even look like a vampire at that moment. He looked alarmingly, poignantly -  _human_.

“What are you doing here?” Gigi asked carefully.

He sure as hell didn’t want to deal with any mentally fragile psycho now. Riccardo’s answer wasn’t what he expected, though, and it felt like it knocked his breath out of his lungs.

“I want you to fuck my brains out, now and here.”

Gigi shook his head, making sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Wh-what?”

“If you don’t do it, I will ask one of your servants.”

Gigi grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back just as Riccardo was turning back to the door.

“Can’t let you do that,” he smiled. “With Matri it would be the worst you’ve ever had.”

Riccardo’s lips didn’t even twitch, instead he just threw his head back when Gigi leaned in to kiss him on the neck. Gigi nibbled at the sensitive skin, remembering the last time he did that. It felt different. Of course it did. Last time there was still warm blood flowing underneath. He felt Riccardo tremble in his arms and looked at him worriedly.

“Are you sure you want this?”

Riccardo nodded absent-mindedly, like he was thinking about something completely else and Gigi’s voice couldn’t even distract him enough. He let Gigi lead him to the bedroom, take off his shirt and lay him on the bed. When Gigi traced his finger down his sternum, Riccardo bit his lip.

“You okay?” Gigi asked.

“Stop fucking talking, don’t mind me!”

As far as it concerned Gigi, it was a strange request, very carefully speaking. They were both quiet for a while, Gigi watching Riccardo closely and Riccardo quivering underneath him in a silent plea, until Gigi reached down and jerked him off. He was pretty sure that his grip was already a bit painful, but Riccardo only seemed to welcome it.

_If he wasn’t weird when he was still human, now he’s really crazy._

“You…” Gigi started, but Riccardo’s eyes told him to shut up immediately.

He didn’t get much further in his actions, and Riccardo didn’t seem to mind, pushing him away as soon as it was over. Gigi wanted to think of something clever to say, but then gave up. _I’m not a fucking psychologist._

“I’m going to shower,” he said tentatively.

No response followed, so he just shrugged and went to the bathroom. He turned the water on and stepped under the warm spray. He would swear that in his more than eight hundred years of existence, nobody has ever confused him so much.

***

Gigi walked out of the bathroom to find out Riccardo had curled up into a small ball. He looked small, broken, the slowly drying streams on his face making it obvious that he had cried himself to sleep.

“I’ve probably fucked up quite a few things,” Gigi whispered to himself. “But this was a major one.”


	14. Fourteen

Alberto walked into Cesare’s office and found his boss hunched over the computer, desperately trying to make it work.

“This is an invention of the Devil,” Cesare mumbled and kicked the machine.

“No, but truth is you could already buy a newer model,” Alberto said.

“I don’t know a thing about these,” Cesare sighed. “Riccardo would…”

A heavy silence fell between them. Then Cesare cleared his throat.

“You got the hunters?” he asked.

“Most of them. Just Aquilani and Giaccherini are out of town momentarily, I left them a message. Osvaldo has some business in Rome today, but he should make it.”

“Good.”

“Well, I know you said everyone… including Bonucci… but are you sure you want to bring El Shaarawy into this as well?” Alberto asked.

“El Shaarawy is ready,” Cesare said firmly. “We need him.”

The tone of his boss’ voice let Alberto know that there was no point in arguing with him.

“The meeting will be at eight o’clock. To Bonucci say it’s at seven, to make sure he arrives before it’s over.”

Alberto chuckled.

“By the way, have you seen Cristina today?” he asked.

“No, haven’t seen her since breakfast,” Cesare said. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I’m a bit worried about her. She’s been acting strangely.”

“Well, a vampire almost killed her and probably killed her boyfriend. Considering she never knew about the existence of vampires before, does it surprise you that she’s not quite alright?”

Alberto sighed. He felt something that resembled jealousy, and realized that maybe it wasn’t that far from it. He felt a bit jealous when he heard Cesare talking like this about Cristina, when he saw him tiptoeing around her, consoling her, while with Alberto it was all about business. Sure, he was his employee, but Cesare ignoring that Alberto also had feelings for Riccardo, pretending there was nothing going on between them while he was sure that Cesare knew all about it, that hurt.   

“I’m going to arrange things for the meeting,” Alberto said. “Will call you later. And…”

Cesare looked at him questioningly.

“You really should buy a new computer,” Alberto said and walked out of the office.

***

Gigi walked into the living room and was about to turn on the TV when he heard voices from the hall.

“No, you can’t go there!” Claudio yelled.

Gigi wanted to go and see what was going on in there, but in that moment the door flew open and a girl ran in, with Claudio and Alessandro running after her.

“We… we told her you were busy…” Alessandro muttered.

“I heard,” Gigi said and closed the door to the hall, with his two servants behind it.

The girl just stared at him like she was frozen on the spot.

“What is that?” he frowned. “Food is now delivering itself?”

“I… I know you!” the girl breathed.

“Oh yeah, a lot of women do. Just remind me where we met, because I can’t remember all of them. I mean, I don’t look like it, but I’m really old. And not really good with names.”

“I’m Cristina. We met at the club. After that I had a really strange car accident. And something bit me in the neck.”

“That happens,” Gigi shrugged. “Maybe this time it will be more pleasant. I heard it usually is better the second time… when it comes to the second time.”

Cristina yelped when Gigi grabbed her and started looking for the best biting spot.

“Hands off my girlfriend!” a voice sounded from the bedroom door.

Cristina gasped.

“Riccardo!” she whispered. “I thought you were…”

She pushed Gigi away with such force that he blinked in surprise, ran across the hall and fell in Riccardo’s arms.

“Oh, this is so sweet, I’m gonna get cavities!” Gigi said in a pathetic little voice. “My teeth already hurt. Oh no, the important ones!”

“Could you fuck off, Gigi?” Riccardo asked casually.

“Nope. This is my house!” Gigi grinned. “Come on, don’t be so mean. You sure aren’t that hungry to need her whole. We could share!”

“WHAT?” Cristina yelled and took a few steps back. “You are-”

“Of course he is!” Gigi grinned. “Why so sad? Just his teeth are now a bit sharper and he’s actually dead… oh, that sounds worse than it really is.”

Cristina looked at him briefly and then turned her gaze back to Riccardo. Gigi sighed.

“I told you. It’s not the same. You’re not the same anymore. Can’t be friends with humans. They…”

“SHUT UP!” Cristina snapped.

Gigi’s eyes went wide, but it actually shocked him so much that he indeed stopped talking. Cristina made a few steps towards Riccardo and reached up to touch his face.

“It’s you,” she whispered like she was assuring herself. “It’s still you.”

“I’m not sure it’s really still me,” Riccardo said.

“But I am,” Cristina smiled.

***

Gigi looked at Andrea, who was having breakfast, and made a disgusted face.

“How can you drink this in the morning and survive?” he asked.

Andrea looked at him with tired eyes.

“Listen, I’m not really in the mood for you,” he said. “I’m quite worried.”

“Worried?”

“About Riccardo. We fell out yesterday and he disappeared after that.”

“Oh, our baby is fine,” Gigi smirked. “I was worried, too, when he turned up in my house yesterday and asked me to fuck his brains out, but now he’s fine. Cooing with his human girlfriend.”

Andrea choked on his artificial blood.

“He is what?”

“Yeah. She stormed into my house and well, I intended to have her for breakfast, but that little psycho looked like he would rip me into pieces if I did it. Then I told her what he was now…”

“With your tact?” Andrea rolled his eyes. “Gigi, I hope you were at least a bit considerate!”

“Me? She wasn’t! She told me to shut up!”

Andrea chuckled.

“Finally someone did it. And?”

“And she said she didn’t care and fell in his arms and haven’t let go of him ever since… do you have a tissue?” Gigi said, wiping a non-existent tear off his eye.

“Idiot!” Andrea snapped. “Well, what are we going to do now?”

Gigi shrugged.

“We still have to go to Maldini before the elections start. So whether he has a human girlfriend or not isn’t the main problem right now.”

Andrea sighed.

“When I imagine how calm my life was a few weeks ago,” he said.

“How  _boring_  it was,” Gigi corrected him.

“I don’t know why I didn’t leave the club as soon as I saw you.”

“Because you missed me,” Gigi grinned. “And I missed you.”

He reached for Andrea’s cup and eyed the red liquid incredulously.

“I might even get used to this for you,” he said and sipped from the cup.

Andrea laughed at the disgusted face he made.

“No,” he said. “Sorry, but this would turn all my love for you into hate.”

“You’re still the same idiot you used to be five hundred years ago,” Andrea said.

“Maybe even bigger,” Gigi said. “But I still love you the same.”

***

Cristina looked at her watch. It was getting dark outside.

“If I want to have a credible excuse for Cesare, I have to go now,” she said.

“Sure,” Riccardo said and got up from Gigi’s favorite sofa.

His body hurt and only then he realized they barely moved during the long hours.

“When can I see you again?” Cristina asked.

“Are you sure you really want to…”

“I’m sure. This is why I did all those things… sneaking out of Cesare’s house, spying on Gila…”

“You spied on Gila?” Riccardo laughed.

“It’s not funny, I was following him in some weird places, hiding behind the dustbins…”

Riccardo shook his head in disbelief.

“Never thought you had this inside.”

“I won’t tell Gila that I saw you,” Cristina said quietly.

“Why?”

“Because he would kill you.”

“He wouldn’t,” Riccardo said, not as firmly as he wanted to.

“Are you that sure?” she asked. “When I asked him if he thought the vampires had killed you, he said it would be better if they had.”

“That doesn’t mean he would kill me.”

“Maybe not, but they are organizing something big with Cesare,” she said. “Just… be careful. Please.”

“I will.”

“You already aren’t!” Cristina frowned. “What if Alberto had sent me? What if I was hiding a silver dagger somewhere?”

“I know you aren’t,” Riccardo smiled.

“How?”

“I can read your mind.”

Cristina opened her mouth in awe.

“Well…” she said then. “That’s fucking unfair!”

***

Paolo Maldini looked at Gigi, who was blurting out some explanations that didn’t really make sense, and at the young vampire next to him.

“It was just… I smelled him among all the people there, and the blood was like… I was high from a few drops!” Gigi said.

Maldini’s eyes got wide. Then he closed them for a moment.

“Have you ever heard of the Malakhim, you uneducated ignorant?”

“The messengers of God?” Andrea blurted out instead of Gigi, who gave him a look that was meant to say “you nerd, in what book did you read that?”

“Exactly, the messengers of God,” Maldini confirmed.

“That’s just a legend!” Andrea objected.

“Sure. And vampires are as well just a legend!” Maldini snapped. “It’s no fucking legend.”

He pulled a book out of a bookshelf. It looked heavy and old, incredibly old. The letters were so decorated that normal people wouldn’t be able to read a single word. Maldini seemed to have no problem with it.

“The Malakhim are the messengers of God, the angels sent to Earth to deliver a message,” he read. “Some of them got lost or trapped on Earth, and are going through one reincarnation after another, searching their way back to heaven for thousands of years. Because vampires are the damned, the blood of the Malakhim attracts them for its purity.”

He closed the book, which caused a cloud of dust fly out of it, and looked at Riccardo.

“Congratulations, gentlemen!” he said. “You’ve just successfully turned an angel into a vampire.”

“Wait, what… I’m not an angel!” Riccardo protested.

“No, now you’re a vampire,” Maldini stated. “I apologize for these two idiots. The problem is that we don’t really know what happens when… you know. So it will be better if we keep you around. And since Andrea left his place and doesn’t want to come back…”

He looked at Andrea questioningly. Andrea shook his head.

“Well, all I can say is… welcome to the Council.”


	15. Fifteen

Alberto took his seat and looked at the hunters who were nervously looking around. It’s been years since they all met in one place. Mostly it were random encounters when a mission brought some of them to the same city, or when Cesare had some plan that required more of them. This was a plan that required  _all_  of them.

“Thank you all for coming,” Cesare said. “The reason why I wanted you to come is that we are dealing with probably the highest concentration of vampires in Milan since two hundred and fifty years.”

“It’s the elections?” Emanuele Giaccherini asked in awe.

“Yes,” Cesare nodded. “Apparently they’re going down in a few days.”

“Never thought I would actually live through it,” Emanuele said with badly hidden excitement.

“So pray that you would  _survive_  it,” Pablo Osvaldo deadpanned.

“The elections mean that we will be dealing with all the vampires from Europe coming to one place. Well, not all, but the deputies. Which means unfortunately the strongest ones,” Cesare said. “It’s our duty to remind the President of the Vampire Council that it’s his responsibility to make sure they behave, but honestly, I’m not sure Maldini is strict enough when it comes to observing the regulations that concern humans. Thus, we have to be ready to intervene.”

“I’m ready,” Leonardo Bonucci growled, playing with a silver dagger. “Always.”

Everyone looked at him skeptically. They all remembered the last time they appointed him with an important task. It required three other hunters to get him out of trouble, and the two young vampires he was supposed to take down, Insigne and Borini, were probably going to laugh at him for a few centuries.

“Well,” Cesare cleared his throat. “I’m convinced that everyone here is ready to be a part of this. However, some expressed doubts about whether the youngest ones should be allowed to take part in this action, so…”

“If you mean me, I’m ready!” Stephan El Shaarawy said fiercely.

“Yes, I mean you, and I know you are ready. I just want to give you the chance to decide yourself.”

“Cesare, this is what I’ve been waiting for!” Stephan said, eyes gleaming. “Since the bloodsucking bastards killed my family, I wanted to pay back. You taught me all this and finally I can be useful, so just tell me what to do and I will do it.”

“I know,” Cesare smiled. “And we will need you.”

***

The Council seat under the Dome was slowly filling up with the newly arrived vampires. Gigi was talking to a few of the Italian privileged vampires, obviously enjoying the attention he was getting. Riccardo and Andrea were watching him with amusement. Andrea had decided to come even though he couldn’t participate in the voting. His official reason was that he wanted to greet some of his friends he hadn’t seen for a long time, but Riccardo suspected that he just wanted to enjoy the sight of Gigi pretending that he actually cares about the Council.

A Spanish vampire entered the hall in the company of other vampires. He stopped when he spotted Gigi, and frowned.

“Iker!” Gigi said cheerfully.

“Don’t you  _Iker_  me, Buffon!” the man snapped. “Because of your stupid ideas I’ve been beyond busy over the last sixty-seven years.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you’d solved that problem already.”

“I’m not sure if it can ever be solved. Not when the council abolished the right to kill other vampires. But I’m going to try to re-establish it, so that I could solve  _both_  my problems.”

“Both?” Gigi raised a brow.

“Yeah,” Iker growled. “Torres and you.”

Gigi smirked and went to greet the English vampires who had arrived a while ago and were now discussing something with their leader, Steven Gerrard.

“It hasn’t changed, it still smells bad in here!” a voice sounded from the doorway. “Must be the Spaniards.”

“Shut up, Cristiano!” another voice hissed. “You won’t get elected if you insult everyone the first minute you’re here!”

“Sorry, Mou,” Cristiano sighed. “It’s just that the people here are so cheap and annoying.”

“Deal with it. Make a good impression!”

“That is José Mourinho,” Andrea whispered to Riccardo. “He used to be the head of the Council in the sixteenth century. When he wasn’t re-elected, he took it really personally. Now he’s trying to get this ambitious young man to the post of the President, so that he could influence things once again.”

“Was he good or bad?” Riccardo asked.

“I can’t really tell. Mourinho is simply Mourinho.”

“Andrea?” Riccardo said suddenly with his eyes fixed at the Portuguese group. “They are not all vampires, are they?”

Andrea shook his head.

“The reserves.”

“What?”

“Well, some of the vampires have their reserves. Humans they feed on if they can’t find other food, or if they don’t have time to find any. Maldini told the foreign vampires to bring some as he promised this wouldn’t become a feast.”

“He promised it to Cesare?”

“To Prandelli, yes.”

“But… the humans… they do it of their will?” Riccardo asked.

“They should,” Andrea sighed. “But I doubt the vampires bother with such details.”

A tall woman entered the hall and looked around. When she saw Gigi, she narrowed her eyes and folded her arms.

“You bastard!” she said loudly.

Gigi’s eyes widened as he turned around.

“Damn,” he cursed quietly.

“I think you forgot something last time,” the woman said.

Gigi came closer to Riccardo and Andrea, who looked the most amused Riccardo had ever seen him.

“She’s been hunting me down for centuries!” Gigi whispered to Riccardo.

“You deserve it!” Andrea chuckled. “Don’t expect us to help you.”

Gigi sighed and threw his hands in the air apologetically.

“Alena, dear, I can explain…”

“I hope you can!” she said. “Otherwise you’re in big trouble.”

“Who is she?” Riccardo asked with an amused smile.

“A very jealous vampire Gigi wishes he could get rid of since… wait… the end of the fourteenth century, I believe.”

“Where does he know her from?”

Andrea smiled.

“She was the one who turned him."

***

Alberto glanced over to Pablo Osvaldo and Alberto Aquilani who had just taken their positions on the square in front of the Dome, and pulled out his phone. He never stopped trying to convince Cesare that a walkie-talkie would be more useful, but Cesare didn’t want to hear anything about it. “We can’t look like a bunch of secret agent wanna-bes,” he would always say. “We have to be as discreet as possible. It’s not just about the vampires not noticing us, it’s also about other people not noticing us. We are like a force field – invisible protection.”

“Everyone’s here,” Alberto said into the phone. “Osvaldo and Aquilani are on the square. Bonucci and Giaccherini are at the entrance to the Galleria.”

“Good,” Cesare’s voice replied. “And El Shaarawy?”

“He’s inside.”

“Fine. So remember, Maldini assured us none of the vampires are going to leave the Dome after dark. He had told them to bring their reserves so if they’re hungry, they should feed on them. Stay there, but only step in if someone breaks the rules.”

“And then what do we do?”

Cesare’s answer was cold and dry.

“Kill them. They have been warned.”

***

“And if I’m elected, I’m going to re-establish the permission to kill vampires who constantly transgress against the law,” Iker Casillas finished his candidate speech.

“You only want to re-establish it because of Torres,” Luka Modric chuckled.

“Even if it was just because of him,” Iker said calmly. “How much work would it save us? And besides, don’t tell me there weren’t other vampires who constantly transgressed against the law. Balotelli for example. Or Ibrahimovic.”

“It’s a bit too harsh to ask for the re-establishment of the permission to kill before you’ve tried everything,” Hugo Lloris objected.

“I  _have_  tried everything!” Casillas snapped. “I even tried to give him a human he could feed on regularly, so that he’d stop attacking whoever came near him.”

“And?”

“He’s sitting right next to me,” Casillas said and nodded to the young vampire next to him. “Apparently his new hobby is turning people, not killing them.”

“Maybe we could control him better if we accepted him into the Coun-“ Steven Gerrard tried to suggest.

“No!” the vampire next to Casillas exclaimed, jumping up. “If he’s coming back, I’m leaving!”

“Calm down, Silva, he’s not coming back!” Casillas said, pulling him back into his seat. “Not until I’m in the Council.”

“He once even tried to bite me when I was already a vampire,” Silva said. “He’s disgusting!”

A few of the other vampires shuddered and the vampire next to Silva hugged him.

“I’m for the re-establishment as well,” Alena said and glanced over to Gigi. “Some vampires really deserve it.”

Gigi grinned and blew her a kiss while she ran a finger over her throat in a meaningful gesture.

“Well, if that’s all…” Maldini said. “We have heard all the candidates’ speeches, so we can proceed to the first round.”

Everyone leaned back in their chairs.

“So, the candidates for the years two thousand and twelve to two thousand two hundred and sixty-two are Steven Gerrard, Iker Casillas, Cristiano Ronaldo…”

Suddenly with a loud bang the door flew open and a tall vampire stormed in.

“And Mario Balotelli!” he announced.


	16. Sixteen

The chaos in the election room was immense. Everyone was jumping out of their seats, some of the Italian vampires were trying to get away, Maldini was trying to calm everyone down and some of the English vampires, especially Joe Hart, were looking suspiciously guilty.

“He can’t run for the President!” Cristiano Ronaldo yelled as soon as everyone got back to the table. “He didn’t make his speech!”

“I will do it now,” Mario said calmly.

“Now it’s too late!” Cristiano shrieked like a kid whose toys are being taken from him.

“Actually it isn’t,” Maldini sighed. “I haven’t said the ‘I hereby pronounce the elections…’ formula yet.”

“Fine, let him make the speech, then,” Christian Maggio said.

Everyone turned to him.

“What?” he asked. “Nobody with a brain is going to vote for him, so we don’t have to worry, do we?”

“If the speech is three hours long like Gerrard’s, then I will surely not vote for him,” Luka Modric said.

“Alright, so do the speech!” Maldini said. “We are listening.”

***

“And everyone who is or was in the relationship with a human will be kicked out of the Council. It’s cost us way too many people. Remember Cassano!” Mario said.

Gigi snorted at the sight of Balotelli’s attempted reverential pose.

“Good, if we remembered your partner in crime, are you done with this?” Maldini asked.

“Guess that’s all!” Mario nodded.

“Finally!” Luka Modric exclaimed and stretched out in his chair. “One would spend his whole death on this!”

“Yeah, right. I need to feed!” Cristiano said, got up and snapped his fingers. “Fábio!”

The human behind him jumped up and followed him out of the hall. Gigi looked at them with envy and sighed.

“I hope this doesn’t take as long as it did last time,” he said. “I’m already a tiny bit hungry.”

“You’re not hungry, you just have a fancy for blood,” Andrea corrected him. “God, this Balotelli cannot be serious. Who does he think would vote for him?”

“Did you see Hart and company? Bet they knew all along he was in England. I wouldn’t be surprised if they voted for him,” Gigi said.

“And betray Gerrard? He would rip their hearts out, no-killing policy left alone!”  

“What about you, sweetie?” Gigi asked, petting Riccardo’s hair. “Have your favorite already?”

“Do you?” Riccardo frowned and slapped Gigi’s hand away.

“They are all boring, except of Balotelli…”

Andrea shot a warning look at him.

“But Andrea wouldn’t speak to me for the next two hundred and fifty years if I voted for him. So I’ll have to go with one of the boring ones. Looks like Gerrard for me.”

“Why not Ronaldo?” Riccardo asked.

“Because he’s feeding right now when I’m not.”

Andrea and Riccardo exchanged knowing looks and laughed. Maldini finished writing into what looked like a really, really old book, and looked around. The Portuguese vampires came back and Cristiano wiped a drop of blood off the corner of his mouth, earning a hiss from Gigi.

“So, we can proceed to voting,” Maldini said and turned to Del Piero. “Is everything ready, Alessandro?”

“Yes,  _Signore_!” Del Piero nodded. “All set.”

“Alright. I remind you all that you have only one vote, and to ensure nobody will cheat, you will use your blood for voting.”

Gigi sighed, taking the sharp-tipped quill.

“Can I borrow yours, Andrea, I’m not sure I still have enough…”

Andrea slapped his hand away when Gigi approached with the quill.

“Your  _own_  blood, idiot!”

***

It took a while to count and verify the votes. Cristiano disappeared again, Luka Modric was yawning in his chair and Daniel Agger, the leader of the Danish vampires, was discussing something with Steven Gerrard, who was looking nervous even though he tried his best not to show it.

“The votes were counted!” Maldini announced.

Everyone took their places again, the candidates looking at each other nervously. Maldini got up and picked up a paper from the table.

“Iker Casillas, eight votes,” he read. “Mario Balotelli, nine votes. Cristiano Ronaldo, fourteen votes. Steven Gerrard, thirty-two votes. Steven Gerrard has the required majority.”

Cristiano jumped up.

“By one vote?” he asked in disbelief.

“This is a scandal!” Mourinho yelled. “Where are the promises of progress? By electing Gerrard, you’re taking five steps back! He’s still living in the times of William the Conqueror!”

“We all remember the progress you promised to make, José!” Iker said calmly. “The whole Europe ended up in a war!”

“Don’t argue with them, Mou!” Cristiano said. “They’re so cheap and annoying.”

“Shut up! If you had a better speech…” Mourinho snapped.

“Better speech? You wrote my speech!” Cristiano objected.

“I’m out of here! I don’t want to have anything in common with this Council anymore!” Mourinho said and snapped his fingers. “We’re leaving!”

Cristiano and the other Portuguese vampires got up and followed Mourinho out of the door. There was silence in the room, until Maldini jumped up in horror.

“The hunters!” he shouted. “They can’t leave! Stop them!”

***

By the time the other vampires arrived upstairs, the fight had already begun. Gigi arrived first to see Mourinho and Cristiano disappearing through the door after Mourinho kicked off a hunter who was trying to grab his legs. Gigi couldn’t help but laugh. Then he frowned at the sight of the hunter in front of him.

“Buffon,” the hunter said calmly.

Gigi nodded.

“Gilardino.”

“I’ve been looking for you last few weeks. Finally found you.”

He flashed his dagger with a contented smile.

“No!”

Alberto gasped when someone knocked him down, landing on him. He wanted to reach for the dagger but suddenly a whiff of familiar scent stopped him. He slowly opened his eyes and his heart skipped a beat.

“What are you doing here?” Alberto breathed.

“Saving my friend from another friend of mine,” Riccardo said.

“Please tell me it’s not true,” Alberto whispered. “Tell me you’re not…”

“No matter what I am, I still call you friend, Gila!”

Riccardo gasped when he saw the dagger flash in Alberto’s hand.

“Gila…”

“I have to!” Alberto whispered.

“You don’t fucking have to!” Riccardo said, grabbing his wrist and pinning him down. “You don’t have to kill me, same as I don’t have to kill you!”

“Watch out!” someone shouted.

Alberto glanced over Riccardo’s shoulder and saw Stephan holding a dagger, aiming at Riccardo’s heart. The thought of warning Riccardo flashed in his mind, but the words never came out. Still, Riccardo frowned a little and made a slight movement when suddenly Andrea cast himself between him and the young hunter.

Riccardo gasped when Gigi lifted him up, kicking Alberto’s dagger far away from them.

“What did I tell you?” he hissed. “Still don’t believe me that he’s no more your friend?”

He glanced over to Stephan who was fighting De Sanctis and Barzagli, who rushed to help the vampires.

“We should get out of here,” he said.

***

“Are you sure, Alberto?”

“I saw him, Cesare,” Alberto said quietly. “I talked to him.”

“But are you sure that he is…”

“A vampire,” Alberto nodded. “I could feel it. And he knew about Stephan because I thought… because for a second I thought about warning him. He read my mind.”

Cesare’s knuckles were white from gripping the armrests of his chair too tightly.

“So what happened?” he asked then.

“Stephan wanted to stab him, but one of the other vampires, Pirlo, cast himself between them.”

“So he killed him?”

Alberto shook his head.

“Don’t think so. It didn’t go through the heart.”

Cesare ran a hand over his face.

“Alberto,” he said then. “Just… don’t tell Cristina, alright?”

“No need to tell me,” Cristina said and stepped into the room. “I already know.”

“What do you know?” Cesare asked.

“About Riccardo. I know he’s a vampire.”

“How?”

“I talked to him.”

“When?”

“Last time I talked to him was yesterday, before the thing at the Dome.”

Alberto gasped.

“Are you mad, Cristina?” he yelled.

“Maybe. Maybe I’m mad. But what are you? How do you even dare to judge me? You call yourself his friend but you wanted to kill him! You’re not a friend, Gila, you’re a backstabber. I warned him you were like this and he didn’t believe me because he loved you. I’m glad that at least he finally knows who you really are!”

“Cristina!” Cesare said because Alberto looked like he wasn’t able to speak at all. “Riccardo is a vampire. He kills people. This is not about Alberto being his friend or not. We have to protect people from vampires, and now that he’s one of them, we have to protect people also from him!”

“And if he wasn’t?” Cristina asked.

“If he wasn’t what?”

“If he wasn’t killing people. Would you leave him alone?”

“What kind of nonsense is this?” Alberto asked. “Cristina, I understand that you feel differently about him, but he’s a vampire and you can’t change him.”

“Alberto is right, dear,” Cesare said. “That he wouldn’t hurt you doesn’t mean he wouldn’t hurt other people.”

“Why am I even arguing with you?” Cristina sighed. “You are going to do as you want, but so am I.”

She opened the door and walked out of the room. Then she turned around and looked at Alberto.

“I swear, Gilardino!” she said. “You hurt him, and one of those daggers goes up  _your_  heart!”

***

Andrea hissed when Gigi tried to take his shirt off.      

“Are you sure that you’re alright?” Gigi asked with genuine concern. “It was close.”

“Yeah,” Andrea said. “It just hurts as hell.”

“Fucking prick,” Gigi growled. “Do we jump the humans from behind? No. And he would just stab Riccardo in the back!”

“It was the young El Shaarawy,” Andrea said calmly. “I don’t think he feels like he has to respect us.”

“Damn, we’re vampires! We need blood! People should finally get over it.”

The door opened and Alessandro poked his head in.

“Pazzini is here,” he said. “Says he’s coming from the Duomo.”

“Let him in,” Gigi said.

Pazzini entered the room and took a deep breath.

“De Sanctis sent me to tell you that Barzagli said Del Piero told him that Maldini asked…”

“Are you going to go on like this for a long time?” Gigi growled.

“No. Maldini wants to know if you’re alright.”

“Well, I’m pissed, Andrea’s in pain and Riccardo is…” he glanced over to the corner of the room. “In a state of shock, I would say.”

Pazzini nodded.

“What’s going on at the Duomo?” Andrea asked.

“It’s madness. Maldini is furious. The hunters got Hart and Villa, and almost got Lloris. That crazy kid would kill him if Maggio didn’t come to his rescue.”

“Damn,” Andrea sighed. “I bet Gerrard and Casillas will want the war now. Especially since Gerrard is the President now.”

“What about the hunters?” Riccardo asked suddenly.

“Don’t tell me that you still care about that fucker Gilardino, for fuck’s sake!” Gigi growled.

“Well, Silva killed the one who got Villa. Balotelli went on a hunt after they ran away, so maybe he will still find some of them. And Modric got that loser Bonucci. That upset me. He was fun.”

Gigi shot a killer look at him.

“Sure. I’m leaving,” Pazzini mumbled and backed up from the room.

“Well, this was a hell of a night,” Gigi sighed and sat in an armchair as Andrea was lying on his sofa. “Damn. I was so worried about you, you old boring corpse, that I even forgot I was hungry!”

“And?” Andrea smirked.

“And I just remembered. Shit.”


	17. Seventeen

Gigi woke up to some loud voices and laughter in the hallway. He blinked in surprise and dragged his body downstairs to look who was in such great mood in his house when he himself felt like shit.

In the hall, Claudio and Alessandro were dancing around, stopping only to hug each other occasionally. Gigi stared at them in disbelief.

“Are you crazy?” he asked.

“Yes!” Alessandro breathed. “Barzagli was here!”

“And?”

“We can come back to the Council!” Claudio said happily. “Gerrard accepted us back!”

“So he’s really mad, after all!” Gigi muttered. “They say the plague in the fourteenth century left its mark, now I think they are right.”

“Everyone can come back!” Claudio explained. “He signed a global amnesty! Yeaaaaah!”

“Claudio, I warn you, if you fuck it up again…” Alessandro said. “No jumping off towers, bridges or anything, and especially not the thing you were doing last three nights!”

“What was he doing?” Gigi asked.

“Jumping in front of cars, letting them roll him over. Then he laughed at the faces of the drivers!” Alessandro said.

Gigi rolled his eyes.

“What are you, a hundred years old baby vampire?”

“I just want to enjoy life… I mean death!” Claudio shrugged. “But okay, I will behave.”

“You should. You will have other problems soon, anyways,” Gigi sighed.

“What do you mean?” Claudio asked.

“Well, why do you think Gerrard allowed shitheads like you to come back? He wants a war.”

Claudio’s eyes went wide.

“A war? Against… against humans?”

“Yes. Against the hunters. And he knows that especially your family, Marchisio, is powerful enough. So he prefers to have you and your stupidities back in exchange for their support. Now go celebrate somewhere else, I’m pissed and Andrea needs to rest.”

Claudio and Alessandro nodded and left the house in a much less cheerful mood. Gigi went to the kitchen, opened the fridge and when all he found was the artificial blood, he sighed and walked up the stairs.

“Hey, blue eyes!” he called and grabbed Riccardo’s phone despite his protests. “Stop texting your human sweetheart and come have a vampire Bloody Mary with me.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“The fuck you aren’t. And I need to discuss something with you.”

“Will you give me my phone back if I go?” Riccardo sighed.

“Maybe.”

“Fine. What about Andrea?”

“He will sleep for some time. At night I’ll bring him something fresher than Criscito’s drinks,” Gigi said.

“You know what he’ll tell you.”

“He can protest however he wants, but he needs real human blood now and he knows it. Otherwise he’ll become a walking corpse. And me too, if we don’t go now.”

Riccardo remembered that Gigi indeed didn’t go out last night, despite being hungry. It was probably the longest he’s ever seen him stay without fresh blood.  Despite Gigi’s irony, this spoke for itself when it came to his concern for Andrea.

***

Steven Gerrard turned a few pages in the old book that was lying on the table and then shut it angrily. He surely didn’t imagine the start of his mandate like this.  _If it wasn’t for Mourinho and his ego, we wouldn’t have a war on our hands now._

“We’re not powerful enough, Steven,” Iker Casillas said in a tired voice. “Yesterday it was just a few hunters and we lost two vampires. We only managed to kill two of them. We can’t have a war now.”

“We weren’t ready.”

“We  _are_   _not_  ready, and we won’t be when the Council is divided like this. Balotelli and his group want something else than we do just so that they don’t have to agree with us, Mourinho is offended, the French are the worst soldiers history’s ever seen and Maldini doesn’t want to go to war.”

“Well, and what do I tell the Council now, Iker? Sorry for losing two of our people, but we’ll pretend that it never happened?” Steven asked.

“And what will you tell them when we lose and have to sign another humiliating treaty with the humans?” Iker retorted.

“We won’t lose!” Steven said firmly. “I’m sure of that.”

“At least let the Council vote!” Iker said. “You won’t have their support anyways if you don’t let them decide if they want the war or not.”

“Fine,” Steven said finally and rang the bell on his table. “Barzagli?”

Barzagli appeared immediately and bowed to him.

“Yes, Sir?”

“Call up a meeting for tonight. Tell everyone it’s obligatory.”

“Of course. Should I call also the… pardoned ones?”

“Everyone.”

Barzagli bowed and disappeared. Iker sighed.

“Do you think Mourinho will come?” he asked.

“He won’t miss the opportunity. War is what he’s wanted all along,” Steven said. “He’s not the one we should fear the most, though.”

“Yes,” Iker nodded. “I know who you mean.”

***

“Two Bloody Marys, Criscito!” Gigi called as they entered the bar. “As fresh as possible, thank you.”

“Everything is fresh in my bar,  _Signore_!” Criscito said politely.

“Sure. Last time it tasted like you prepared it of Mary, Queen of Scots!”

Criscito pouted but started to prepare the drinks. Gigi and Riccardo sat at the table in the corner.

“So what did you need to discuss?” Riccardo asked.

“Gerrard wants a war.”

“What?” Riccardo looked at Gigi with wide eyes. “How do you know?”

“He signed a global amnesty. Lets everyone come back. Not just idiots like Marchisio and Matri, who are relatively harmless, but it means that even fucking Ibrahimovic can come back.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Ibrahimovic usually means the Apocalypse.”

Criscito brought them the drinks. Gigi took a sip and nodded, which was his sign of approval, and Criscito retired to the bar, glad that the drink didn’t end up on his head.

“Listen, I’m pretty sure Gerrard will have us vote whether we are for or against the war. It was like that the last time.”

“The last time?”

“Yeah, when Carragher was the president. Gerrard respects Carragher, so he will do like he had done before. The thing is, the war mustn’t happen.”

“I don’t want it to happen!” Riccardo said like he didn’t understand why Gigi was telling him this.

“Oh. Good,” Gigi said and downed his glass. “Just wanted to be sure you’re not going to raise your hand for it, after what happened yesterday.”

“You mean after Gila wanted to kill me?”

“Yes.”

“I still don’t believe that he would kill me.”

Gigi sighed deeply.

“You’re hopeless.”

***

Cesare entered the conference room and sat down in his chair. The room was quiet. The excited banter from the previous meeting was gone. Two places were empty. Cesare felt the most miserable that he’s ever felt in his life.

“So, we know what is going to happen now,” he said. “I suppose right in this moment, the Vampire Council is voting about the war.”

“Like they have a right to feel offended,” Stephan spat. “They owe us Aquilani and Bonucci.”

“They don’t owe us anything. And we don’t owe anything to them,” Alberto said.

“Maybe you do owe us something,” Pablo Osvaldo looked at him. “At least an explanation.”

“I don’t need to explain anything,” Alberto retorted.

“No? You were fucking useless!” Osvaldo shouted. “You were just standing there! If it wasn’t for Stephan, they would get more of us because you were not doing your work!”

“Calm down, Pablo!” Cesare said quietly. “Reproaching won’t help anything.”

“I’m not reproaching!” Osvaldo snapped. “I’m just expressing my doubts about whether Gilardino should still keep his rank after this, and mainly because of what is going to come.”

Cesare took a breath, but Alberto stopped him.

“You’re right,” he said calmly. “Until yesterday I thought I could kill every vampire I’d see. I was wrong.”

He could feel the eyes of all the hunters on him. He got up slowly and laid his dagger on the table.

“I’ve been thinking about this all day. I think the leader of the hunters should be someone who will never hesitate to pull out the dagger. Yesterday I hesitated. And I found out that there is a vampire I couldn’t kill. That’s why I’m giving up my place now.”

“Alberto…” Cesare said.

“No. Cristina was right. There is not only one side to this. Riccardo said he still called me friend.  And I couldn’t kill a friend.”

“If this is your final decision…” Cesare sighed. “I think that Pablo should take your place now.”

“Yes,” Alberto nodded. “He’s the one you need now.”

***

The Council was sitting around the big table. Some of the vampires already had their hands up, some were still hesitating with their votes. Gigi rolled his eyes when he saw Alena raising her hand.  _Bloodthirsty woman. No wonder she and Elizabeth Báthory used to get on so well._

His hopes went up a bit when the majority of the French vampires voted against the war, but then all the Danes raised their hands, even though Eriksen’s was shaking a little bit.

_No wonder. Agger will be Gerrard’s first general if the war really happens._

“The vote from the Croatians now, please!” Gerrard said.

The Croatian vampires all looked at their leader, but after Modric shook his head, their hands stayed on the table.

“The Swedes?”

“Of course we are for the war!” Zlatan Ibrahimovic said with a wide grin. “Finally something’s going on!”

Gigi sighed deeply.

“The votes are even now,” Gerrard announced. “In case the Council is not able to come to a decision, the decision will be made by the leaders only.”

Gigi exchanged a relieved look with Iker. It was probably the first thing they’ve ever agreed on, but there was a fair chance of the war not happening if only the leaders’ votes would count.

“If someone still hasn’t cast their vote, they have the last opportunity to do so now.”

There was silence. Most of the vampires already voted. The others gave up their votes.  _The only one who hasn’t voted yet…_  Iker looked at Silva who shifted in his seat, and blinked rapidly.

“No, David, don’t…” he started, but Silva’s hand was already up.

"My vote is a yes," he said quietly.


	18. Eighteen

**_Rome, February 1498_ **

_“Where did your carefulness go, dear Lucrezia?”_

_The woman the words were addressed to turned around briskly._

_“Gianluigi!” she breathed. “How did you get in here?”_

_“I asked first. How is it possible that there are voices about a baby being born?”_

_The woman sighed._

_“It’s not easy to keep it entirely secret, you know, Gianluigi? Don’t worry. Nobody will ever prove the child is mine.”_

_“What is your plan, then?” Gianluigi asked, making himself comfortable in an armchair and grabbing an apple from a golden bowl full of fruit._

_“It could be any maid’s child. I will surely find one willing to take care of it and keep quiet when I pay her.”_

_Gianluigi turned the apple in his hand and then put it back with a disgusted face. He felt more like having some fresh blood. The sweet smell of Lucrezia wasn’t helping. His mouth has always watered in the proximity of her, but he knew better than to reveal who he was to her. She would be a strong opponent._

_“Alright, then. Keep it quiet. If there is someone who knows…”_

_“I will take care of them.”_

_Gianluigi nodded and got up._

_“I don’t have to remind you that if you don’t, the consequences will be much worse for you than they could be for me, do I?” he asked casually._

_“Of course,” Lucrezia said coldly. “Of course having a bastard child is worse for the Pope’s daughter than for a prodigal aristocrat.”_

_“Exactly, my dear,” Gianluigi smiled. “You should keep that in mind.”_

 

**Milan, present day**

Cristina rang the doorbell and waited. She and Riccardo agreed to meet at Andrea’s house as Andrea was still staying at Gigi’s place.

When the door opened, she walked in and in the middle of the hall stopped and frowned. The door behind her closed. She crossed her arms and looked to the stairs.

“Don’t do these things to me!” she snapped at Riccardo, who was grinning at her, leaning over the railing. “You’re messing with my brain!”

“Sorry!” Riccardo laughed. “But it’s one of the few things I like about being a vampire, so…”

Cristina threw her handbag on the sofa, sat down and exhaled.

“Sorry I couldn’t get here earlier. Gila was keeping an eye on me all day. If Cesare didn’t send him somewhere, I couldn’t even leave the house.”

“Is he alright?” Riccardo asked.

“For now,” Cristina frowned.

“What do you mean, for now?”

“Well, I told him I would stab him with his own dagger if he ever hurt you. So technically I should have already done it.”

Riccardo sat next to her.

“So… you told him that you knew about me?”

“Yes. I told him, and Cesare. They were trying to explain to me why it was alright to kill you. I tried to reason with them, like… if you didn’t kill people…”

“But I have to drink people’s blood, Cristina!”

“I know you do,” she said softly. “But… killing people is just… wrong.”

“What else can I do?”

“Do you have to kill them? Can’t you just… feed and…”

Riccardo sighed.

“No. Can’t have them running around spreading the news that the vampires exist. It has to look like an accident, in the worst case, or they have to disappear. Those are the rules of the Council.”

“But if someone… if someone just let you drink, you wouldn’t have to kill them, right?”

Riccardo chuckled.

“Who would ever do that?”

“I would.”

It was a calm, quiet statement, but Riccardo jumped up like she had screamed it.

“I can’t drink your blood!”

“Why not?” Cristina asked.

“Because it’s just… it’s just fucked up, it’s…”

“All of this is,” she shrugged. “Let’s just try it. I mean, I survived it for the first time, and even Gila said it was unusual that they didn’t kill me. And I suppose you’re not so voracious as that vampire was.”

“Nobody is more voracious than Matri,” Riccardo said. “But I’m really not sure if we should…”

“If you were made of chocolate and I was craving it, I wouldn’t say no to you just because you’re my boyfriend.”

“What?” Riccardo exclaimed, half-shocked, half-amused.  

“I’m just saying, if you’re hungry and I can be the food…”

Riccardo looked at her and sighed.

“I don’t have any chance to talk you out of it, do I?”

“Nope!” Cristina said resolutely and pulled her dress over her head. “Just bite me somewhere I can hide it. Don’t want Alberto to suspect me even more than he already does. I mean, of being vampires’ ally number one.”

“And aren’t you?” Riccardo laughed, pulling her closer.

“No!” she grinned. “Just yours.”

***

Riccardo entered Gigi’s house and looked around confusedly when he saw confetti on the floor. He found Gigi in the living room, watching old episodes of Vampire Diaries, which meant that he was in a bad mood.

“Done with your human sweetheart?” he asked.

“She has a name, Gigi!” Riccardo said calmly. “What are those confetti in the hallway?”

“Just Marchisio and Matri were celebrating their freedom and didn’t bother to clean up before they went to hell,” Gigi said.

“And you’re not even mad,” Riccardo stated and sat next to Gigi. “You’re really worried about Andrea, aren’t you?”

Gigi shook his head.

“No, he’s fine now. I’m worried about myself.”

“Why?”

“Because I never thought I loved the old fucker so much,” Gigi sighed.

“You’re older than him,” Riccardo laughed.

“It’s not about age, it’s about the spirit, young man!” Gigi said emphatically.

“Yeah, right. Then you’re actually like… eight years old.”

Gigi smirked and wrapped his arms around Riccardo. Suddenly he let out a shriek and jumped out of the sofa.

“Holy fuck, damn it to the seven hells, what is this?”

Riccardo looked up and blinked in confusion.

“What?”

“You!” Gigi shouted. “Your fucking heart!”

He ran to the door and opened it.

“Andrea! Come here!” he yelled.

“I’m sleeping, Gigi!” Andrea’s voice sounded from upstairs. “Or I was.”

“Come the fuck here, now!”

Andrea appeared in the room a few moments later.

“What’s this about now?” he asked and yawned.

“His heart is beating,” Gigi informed him, still keeping a safe distance from Riccardo, like he was evil personified.

Andrea gave him a sympathetic look.

“Who did you drink from tonight, Gigi?” he asked.

“I’m not fucking drunk, go and touch him yourself!”

Andrea rolled his eyes, walked over to Riccardo and placed his hand on his chest. Then he looked up to him and turned his head to Gigi, who spread his arms in a “I told you” gesture.

“It’s impossible,” Andrea whispered.

“What are you talking about?” Riccardo asked.

“Your heart, Riccardo,” Andrea said quietly. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but it’s beating. Your skin is warm.”

“You mean that I’m…” Riccardo whispered.

“Yes,” Andrea nodded. “You’re alive.”  

***

Gigi shot a meaningful look at Barzagli, who was without a doubt going to tell them that “Signor Del Piero is busy”, and proceeded to the hall. Andrea followed him. The hall was empty, but there were voices coming from the conference room. Gigi reached for the handle, but stopped when he heard Andrea’s name.

“Daniele, you have to tell him!” Del Piero’s voice said.

“But… I kept it a secret for over seventy years! Why tell him  _now_?” Daniele De Rossi said in a panicked voice. “You didn’t mind him going off human blood for all this time, why change it now?”

“Because now it’s not about who drinks human blood or not, now we need to stop this war! You said you wanted to tell him eventually.”

“But… eventually! I meant, when he got over it completely! I can’t just come up to him now and say ‘I’m sorry, but I knew all the time who killed your wife!’. What does it matter if he rips Ibrahimovic’s heart out now or later, it won’t stop the war anyways!”

“Daniele…” Del Piero started, but right in that moment the door flew open and Andrea Pirlo walked in.

“Excuse me,” he said through gritted teeth. “Who did you just say killed my wife?”

***

Gigi sat in the conference room with Paolo Maldini who was looking really tired. Which also meant he was close to being angry, and that was never a good thing.

“I actually… wanted to talk to Del Piero,” Gigi said.

“Del Piero went after Pirlo to ensure he doesn’t kill Ibrahimovic right before the eyes of a few hundred humans!” Maldini snapped. “So, what is it that you want?”

“Eh… remember when we discussed a certain angel we turned?” Gigi asked.

“Of course,” Maldini looked at him. “And what about him?”

“Yesterday he came home, only that when he left, he was a vampire, and when he came back, he was not.”

“Buffon, this is not the right time for the stupid jokes of yours.”

“I’m not joking, alright? He came home and his heart was beating.”

Maldini shook his head.

“That’s impossible.”

“Even when he was an angel?”

Maldini sighed.

“Only if he drank from a half-vampire, half-angel. And that’s why it’s impossible, because there is no half-vampire, half-angel, or you know about one?”

Gigi made a strange noise and looked away.

“Do you?” Maldini asked, bewildered.

“Well, actually…” Gigi said.

“Gianluigi Buffon!” Maldini yelled, getting up from his chair. “Now tell me how many half-vampires are walking our Mother Earth because of you, before I get really, really mad!”

“But… how am I supposed to know?” Gigi spread his arms.

Maldini slumped back in his chair and sighed.

“Well, and I thought that it would be easier when I was no more the President of the Council. Unfortunately, I forgot that most of the troubles were caused by Italian vampires anyway.”

***

Riccardo opened the door of Andrea’s house and stared at Alberto who was standing at the doorstep, looking like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Um… hi?” Riccardo said.

Alberto looked at him and bit his lip.

“Sorry,” he said finally. “I’m sorry. For being an idiot. For wanting to kill you… actually not, but for thinking about letting Stephan kill you. For not… being a good friend, actually, for being the worst fucking friend possible. I told Cesare I was done. I mean as a hunter. That I couldn’t do it anymore because as a hunter, you’re supposed to kill every vampire you see, and well… I couldn’t. I couldn’t kill you.”

Riccardo was listening to him, arms crossed. Alberto looked at him.

“Can I… come in?” he asked quietly. “I have no dagger. I swear.”

“It’s fine,” Riccardo said, taking his hand and laying it on his heart. “You won’t need it.”

 

**Epilogue**

Gigi shot a disapproving look at a guy who walked into the restaurant and left the door open.

“Close the fucking door, my food will get cold!” Gigi groaned and looked at the door which closed itself immediately.

“Sometimes I miss this,” Riccardo smiled.

“Well, you have other things now,” Gigi said. “Your… how to say it… half-caste girlfriend and your hunter boyfriend, for example.”

“Gila is no more a hunter.”

“Whatever. You can be your silly, spoiled self again.”

“I don’t think I can,” Riccardo said. “I learned quite a few things from you and Andrea.”

“I hope mainly from Andrea,” Gigi chuckled. “The things you could learn from me are hardly suitable for a human.”

“What about him and Ibra?”

“Ibra is still hiding somewhere, fucking coward. But actually I’m grateful to him.”

“For what?”

“For bringing the old Andrea back. You know, before he turned… vegetarian… because he believed that he had killed Deborah, he was actually quite fun, and mainly, he was no one to mess with. Well, he will probably never be the funniest person on Earth, but you should have seen what he did to Motta when he suspected he knew about Ibra.”

Riccardo laughed.

“Anyways,” Gigi said. “Whenever you get bored of being a human, just tell me. Only you can’t drink your girlfriend’s blood afterwards.”

“Thank you,” Riccardo made a face. “But I think that I’m happy as a human.”

Gigi grinned and stabbed his fork into Riccardo’s very rare steak.  
  
“Yeah,” he said. “I see.”

**Author's Note:**

> The bad times about to come that Gigi speaks about are meant to follow the death of Lorenzo Il Magnifico (he died April 9, 1492), who managed to bring a relatively fragile peace to several states of Italy. His son Piero was nowhere near his father's character and the peace was over soon when he succeeded him, with Charles V taking over Florence. The Medicis didn't come back to ruling Florence until 1512. With the death of Lorenzo, the Golden Age of Florence was also over. 
> 
> Girolamo Savonarola was a preacher who was trying to pass a lot of laws against immorality - sodomy, adultery, immodest dress and behavior etc. - and later really managed to do so.


End file.
